Control
by QingRen2
Summary: Control. It was her sole existence, her ultimate goal, and the reason why she needed him almost as much as he wanted her. GaaraOC
1. Always

Summary: Control: It was her sole existence, her ultimate goal…and the reason why she needed him almost as much as he wanted her.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. I DO, however, own this story line.

Pairing: GaaraOC

**HEY READ THIS - ** A/N: Hi there(: Okay, so this is my first fanfiction, and truthfully, I got Nao, the protagonist, from another author who found herself too submerged in daily life to write this(: Thank you to that certain someone for this wonderful character. I must say, Nao is quite the pushy one. She definitely took the reins on this story.

Anyhoo, thank you for reading this fanfiction! I hope you'll enjoy, and please rate&review.

Control

_**Chapter 1:**_

_**Always**_

The blazing sun scorched down upon Nao, causing small beads of sweat to gather upon her skin. It was so, so hot, and she was so sleepy…but she had to keep on going. With every stride she took, she knew that they were taking four more, always catching up to her. To be fair on herself, though, she _was_ a good two days ahead of them. The only way they could catch up to her was if they traveled nonstop, like she had.

She stopped her perilous trekking and wearily placed her hands on her hips. Groaning in frustration, she tilted her head towards the sky and closed her eyes for a few moments. As if she wasn't already exhausted and running low on chakra, the heat just slowed her down even more.

"Alright, Nao. Keep going," she mumbled to herself. Opening her eyes, dark brown irises routinely scanned the surrounding area. When nothing unusual or dangerous seemed to be around, she started to travel again.

Even though she had taken a break to try and rejuvenate herself, with each step, Nao felt like she was going to collapse. It had already been three weeks since she had fled her home and the monsters that had taken it over. Throughout those three weeks, she had lived off four loaves of bread, four bags of veggie chips, and soldier pills. To top that off, she hadn't slept more than four or five hours each night. It didn't take a genius to see that she wouldn't last much longer.

After walking a mile or two, she was already out of breath, so she decided to just give up trying to continue. On her back were her two twin blades, and as she leaned against a tree, she slung them over her shoulder and laid them on the ground. Slumping down to the base of the tree, she closed her eyes and took refuge in the large oak's umbrage.

Making herself comfortable, Nao pulled her jacket out of her pack and put it behind her head. A nap couldn't hurt. Besides, if Icheru's men did come and ambush her, there was some chakra still stored in her swords. She would escape. She always did.

* * *

'_Nao, baby, wake up.' Tanzou reached and slowly stroked the side of her face. She rolled onto her side and stared up into his beautiful aquamarine eyes. She smiled as he quickly kissed her forehead, and then proceeded to open the curtains. _

'_The elders want to see you…' he said quietly as she walked over to him and placed a small kiss on his cheek. His arms protectively wrapped around her as he turned to face her and looked into her face._

'_Why?' she inquired. Leaning her head against the nape of his neck, she felt him sigh. _

_Tanzou shrugged. 'I think there's a visitor to the clan.'_

_Nao leaned back and looked, confused, into his face. 'So? We get visitors all the time…why is this one so significant?'_

_Silence greeted her, and Tanzou's grim eyes flared up caution within her. _

'_He's asking for marriage,' her boyfriend said quietly._

_Marriage. The word resonated within her head. Suddenly, a drop of blood slid down the side of Tanzou's face._

'_Tanzou? Tanzou! What's happening?' Nao cried out as more blood trailed down his face. She desperately tried to heal him, but the blood just kept on coming out. _

_She ran to get a towel, but when she came back, Tanzou's face was slowly forming into someone else's. His clear, cyan irises suddenly darkened into a gloomy brown, and his soft features melted into the rough outline of a stranger._

'_Who…who are you?!' Nao shouted angrily. _

_But the man didn't answer. He just kept walking closer, and with each step, he became larger and larger. His shadow encompassed her and sucked her in, deeper and deeper…_

_

* * *

_With a start, Nao awoke in darkness. Her breathing was quick, and sweat was collecting on her forehead despite the coolness of…the night.

"Crap!" she cried out. It was pitch black in the forest, and the only light came from that of the bright, crescent moon shining down upon her.

Panic surged through her as she quickly gathered her things and stood up. How long had she slept?! _Icheru's men could be right behind me! _As fast as she could, she packed up her supplies and slung her swords onto her back. As she got up, she looked around. She had probably been asleep for eight or nine hours. With a grimace, she turned around and squinted. In the distance behind her, nothing seemed to be too different from the way it was eight or so hours ago…but then again, not everything is as it appears.

Concentrating hard, Nao felt that familiar push of chakra behind her eyeballs as she prepared her jutsu. The feeling, that pressure, wasn't as uncomfortable as it used to be. 13 years of training did her good. Under her breath, she quietly, almost inaudibly said, "Reach."

Like a flash of lightning, Nao's eyes lit up, an immensely glowing white, then, as quickly as they had ignited, they dulled back down to her normal brown. Though the visual appearance of her eyes had remained the same, her vision now stretched upon miles and miles of land. Her eyesight had been enhanced, stretched, and magnified a hundred times, and now she could zone in wherever she wanted, as if she had her own built-in telescope.

With a quick scan across the distance she had covered in the previous week, Nao picked out the chakra flares of a group of men, 30 or so miles away. When she honed in closer upon their signatures, she saw that they were indeed Icheru's lackeys. Even though she was miles away from them, just looking at them still made her uncomfortable.

Satisfied, she turned to a different direction. She was on the look out for civilization of a sort. After weeks of traveling without any human contact, she feared she had become anti-social. Nao looked at the path ahead of her, hoping to spot a place where she could take refuge. About three miles northeast, she managed to see the faint outline of a complex, possibly a village or a small town. Warm lights and a decently sized crowd of people filled the many different buildings, and Nao decided then and there that it would be a perfect place to stay for the night.

She mumbled the word, "Release," and closed her eyes as the constant pulse behind her eyes faded away. Reaching into her pack, Nao popped a quick soldier pill into her mouth and stretched. The inn was only a couple of miles away. If she ran, she could reach it in about 20 minutes or so, especially after that nap. She started jogging, feeling the familiar crunch of dirt under her soles, and it wasn't long before she was drawn into the rhythm of her running.

After approximately 19 minutes and 22 seconds, Nao reached the sign just outside of the complex she had seen before. It wasn't a village or a town. No, even better: it was a hot springs resort.

Nao sighed in contentment. Thank Kami. Just what she and her aching body needed. With a slight spring in her step and a new lift in her spirit, Nao walked down the path to what she assumed was the main lobby. When she opened the door, though she was expecting to see the place packed with vacationing families and teens, everywhere she turned, she was greeted by old, wrinkly elders.

Feeling slightly awkward and out of place, she walked towards the check-in desk.

"Welcome to the Senior Retirement Hot Springs Resort. Um…how can I help you, young miss?" the concierge asked politely. His sneaky, fox-like eyes quickly scanned over Nao's body. _Poor guy_, Nao thought._ Bet all the action he's ever gotten is helping some old lady put in her dentures._

"Yes, I'd like a room for just tonight," Nao told him politely.

"Alright, Miss. Here's the key."

"How much?" she asked him, already pulling out her wallet.

"Oh, no charge for the pretty lady." His voice was dripping with honey, slimy and unctuous. As Nao took the key from his hand, his fingers lingered upon her skin much longer than they needed to.

Plastering a fake smile on her face, Nao reminded herself to break his fingers if he ever did that again. She quickly walked to her room, which was only about two buildings away from the main lobby, and shut the door.

The place was nice. It had a very homey feel, with shady lamps and simple decor. There was a cinnamon-like smell lingering in the air that danced around Nao. She put her things down on the table near the bathroom and walked in. One look in the mirror, and she almost cried out. She looked like a horror movie character. Her face had become extremely gaunt, despite the fact that she was so tan. Dirt covered her face and her body, and her hair stuck up in odd places.

"That guy must have been desperate," she mumbled to herself as she cleaned up in the sink. After washing her face, she changed out of her dirty clothes and wrapped herself in a fuzzy bathrobe hanging on the door.

She walked out of the bathroom as she folded her clothes and set them by her pack. Slowly reaching into the side pocket of her backpack, her face was solemn as she pulled out a small piece of paper, wrinkled and ripped. She cautiously unfolded it, and the black writing was smudged either by water or tears. As she scanned through the words for the hundredth time, her lips pulled down at the corners.

_Baby,_

_I know how you hate corny sayings, but I can't help it. There's no other way to say this. Though we are not together, and I'll never be able to see your face again, I just want you to know I love you. Rou can take my life, but he cannot take my heart. No, that belongs to you, alone, forever._

_I'm yours, __always._


	2. The Survivor

Summary: Control: It was her sole existence, her ultimate goal…and the reason why she needed him almost as much as he wanted her.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. I DO, however, own this story line.

Pairing: GaaraOC

A/N: Hey guys! I just wanna thank you for reading this fanfiction! I Another quick thanks to Kim for her character (or should I say characters, cause Tanzou is hers too)! (: I hope all of you are enjoying this so far, and I just ask that you guys rate&review! If any of you have suggestions, feel free to PM me and I'll take them into account. Thank you, and enjoy chapter 2!

Control

_**Chapter 2:**_

_**The Survivor**_

After carefully refolding the note and putting it away, Nao slipped into a pair of bath slippers, grabbed some food money, and walked out the door. Locking the door to her room behind her, she looked around for a map of some sort, or directions to the hot springs. When none could be found, she followed an old woman who was also wearing a bathrobe.

After about ten minutes or so of following that old lady, Nao sighed in frustration and started exploring on her own. Despite the fact that it looked rather small from a distance, the resort was actually quite large. There were many buildings, most of which were shops and restaurants. As if on cue, Nao's stomach screamed out in hunger. But no, hot springs first.

She slowly walked around, surrounded by a myriad number of old grandmas and grandpas that greeted her with toothless smiles and warm hellos. She smiled back sweetly to all of them, all the while still looking for that gosh-darn hot spring. She was about to ask someone for directions when she saw the large sign saying "HOT SPRINGS: MEN TO THE RIGHT; WOMEN TO THE LEFT."

Sighing in relief, she walked to the left and found herself in a surprisingly empty hallway. When she opened the door to the springs, she found only an old woman, lying in the tub, sleeping. Awkwardly, Nao stripped off her robe and submerged herself in the hot water. Almost groaning in satisfaction, she felt all her muscles unravel and all her knots unwind. Sighing in contentment, she laid her head back against a rock when suddenly the old woman said, "Isn't this nice?"

Nao jumped, startled, then she smiled at the old woman. "Yes, it is."

The woman looked at her, and Nao saw the clearest green eyes she had ever encountered in her life. The old woman's eyes crinkled as she smiled at Nao and waded over. A little creeped out, Nao backed off just a tad but not too much, so as not to offend the obaa-san.

"You are a beautiful young girl," the woman said, squinting her eyes as she observed Nao.

Nao smiled, but was slightly uncomfortable as the woman leaned closer to get a better look.

"Let me see your palm," the woman said suddenly. Nao made a face and just stared at her.

"Um…excuse me?" she stuttered, unsure and uncomfortable.

"Your palm. I can read palms, child."

"Oh…okay…" Nao cautiously lifted her hand out of the hot water and placed it in the old woman's wrinkly hands. The woman flipped over Nao's hand and traced her finger alone the lines.

"A long life line…mm, much prosperity as well as much heartache….And your love line, my that's interesting," she mumbled to herself. Nao stared uncertainly at the woman, wondering what she was thinking. After a while the woman looked up at her and smiled.

"You have a good life ahead of you, dear." And with that, the old woman stood up and walked into the locker room.

Weirded out and disoriented, Nao just sat there, staring after the woman. Her brow furrowed a bit, but she shrugged it off, and continued to relax. What could an old woman do to her anyways?

VVVVVVV

"Well, Nana? Did you plant it?" a tan man asked the old woman coming out of the women's locker room.

The old woman nodded surely. "Of course I did."

"Are you sure that was her?"

The woman turned and stared him down. "I've been working for Icheru for as long as he's been alive and I have never made a mistake. Of course it was her."

"Good, good. Did everything go smoothly?"

"Yes of course. The tracking jutsu has been planted in her palm. It'll remain there unless expelled by force, and I highly doubt that will happen seeing as she doesn't even know I planted it."

"Good, Icheru will be pleased."

"I'm sure," the woman said coldly, walking back to her room.

VVVVVVV

After thirty minutes in the hot spring, Nao's stomach got the better of her. She dried herself off, then wore her bathrobe, checking to make sure the money was still in the pocket.

When she got to the food stands, her mouth watered. The smells were irresistible. She settled on a nice, hot bowl of ramen, but right before she put the noodles in her mouth, a man tapped her on her shoulder.

"Miss? Are you in room 210?"

She sighed, frustrated from being interrupted. "Yes. May I ask why you are inquiring?"

The man looked at her. He couldn't have been older than 20, 21, yet something about him was odd. His face look worn, tired, like that of an old man's.

"There are some problems with the pipe system in that hallway. We're going to shift you to another room."

Nao stared at the man. She had just used the shower, and the pipes worked fine. She hid her suspicion and smiled. "Okay, thank you. Go ahead. If you don't mind, I think I'll eat now." She raised the noodles to her lips again, but the man interjected.

"Ah, Miss, if you wouldn't mind getting dressed and getting your things, we'll make the move as quickly as possible so as to allow you to enjoy your stay. We need your supervision because we want to be sure we've moved everything."

Her brown eyes practically bore a hole into his head. Plastering on a pained smile, she nodded, but as she paid for her ramen, she honed in on his heartbeat. The normal rhythm of a human heartbeat was as familiar to her as the sound of her voice. But this man…his heart was racing like a rabbit. He was lying to her.

Dignifiedly, she stood up and walked to her room. Opening the door, she quickly grabbed her things and headed into the bathroom to change. While she was changing, she was hurriedly looking for an escape: a window, and second door, anything. Nothing. The bathroom had no window, and the only door out was the one that man was standing in front of.

Suddenly Nao's hand twitched. Surprised, Nao looked down at her palm and gasped. Due to her adrenaline rush, her body had automatically started seeping chakra out through all the pores in her body, and when chakra had rushed out of her palm, the palm that old woman had 'read', it had magnified the signature of a jutsu.

Cursing under her breath, Nao examined her hand. It was a simple tracking jutsu. She didn't counter it just yet, so as not to alarm whoever was tracking her. Instead, she walked out of the door and greeted the man.

"I'm done now. Lead the way."

"Here, let me carry your swords for you," the man offered. He extended out his arms, but she patted them away.

"No, it's quite alright, thank you."

She saw his eye twitch. He put on a smile and walked out of the room then waited outside the door for Nao to exit. She shut the door behind her and smiled at the man. Extending his hand in the direction of another hallway, she walked in front, slowly, passing multiple grannies and grandpas. Then, when it was just them in the hallway, she attacked.

Taking the butts of her swords, she hit the man in the head then attacked four of the vital spots on his body. Like a ragdoll, the man collapsed to the floor. Quickly, Nao ran out of the hallway, praying that she would get out fast enough before anyone noticed.

She didn't. Before she knew it, a mass of men, Icheru's men, had appeared in the main lobby. Nao sprinted towards the exit, using the dull side of her swords to swat away anyone who was obstructing her path. She burst out the doors and into the dark night sky, running in whichever direction first came to her mind.

Spotting a gap in the forest, she headed that way. Running like the wind, she knew they were still close on her tail. She turned around and while still sprinting, she counted about twelve. She could take them, but she'd need a spacious area.

After running into the mass of trees, she scampered and swerved through the trunks, like a gazelle. Her eyes were looking around for a clearing or a field, but it was so dark, she could barely make out the trees. The scuffles of the men behind her echoed in the forest, and she prayed that the darkness would be on her side until she found a place to…slaughter.

Finally, up ahead, she made out a clearing, a large field. She rushed towards it, and when she was in the middle, with a strange sense of calmness, she set her things down and unwrapped the bandages from her swords. Looking down at her palm, she quickly expelled the tracking jutsu from her hand. Then, for a few seconds, she waited for the men to come. All the while, adrenaline raced through her bloodstream, exciting her cells. Suddenly, she was excited. So excited. She could practically smell the blood on her blade. The faster they came, the more blood she could shed…

_Nao, no calm down, _she told herself, shaking away the bloodlust. She stared down at her swords, and though they were singing out to her, calling for vengeance, she wrapped them. She couldn't lose it, especially when she was this low on chakra. If she lost control, her own chakra would kill her. By the time she had set her swords down, the men had came into the clearing and was surrounding her.

"You're coming with us!" one shouted at her, three kunai already in his hand. Just by looking at the way he gripped his weapons, Nao knew she would win immediately if she had more chakra. Unfortunately, she was tired, hungry, and weak, so she wouldn't be able to take them down as quickly.

Also, apparently, she has miscounted. There were only 10 of them. They all had kunai or shuriken grasped in their hands, prepared to pierce Nao should she make a move.

Nao smiled, a sadistic sort of smile, and laughed. Suddenly, all her doubt and worry had disappeared. With a final grin and a wave, she was gone.

Alarmed, the ten men looked around, yelling. Then suddenly one of them dropped to the ground.

"Over here, boys," Nao taunted. She couldn't help it; being creepy was too fun. After she had knocked out the one man, she had taken his weapons and began to throw them with frightening accuracy at each of the other men. One by one, their clothes were pinned to the surrounding trees.

Everywhere they turned, they only saw blurs of motion. Her laughter surrounded them, ringing in their heads. After she had successfully taken all of their weapons and used those to pin them down, she slowed. Nine of the guards were nailed to the trees, while the one was still unconscious.

Nao stood in the middle of the landing, her willpower on the edge. She stood, observing them, watching their frightened eyes. They were all helpless against her. She walked towards one of the nine conscious men. His arms and legs, like all the rest, were pinned around the wide trunk of the tree. Nao observed her handiwork. Not bad. The man wasn't even bleeding.

As she leaned in closer, she heard the pumping of blood in his veins, the beat of his racing heart. Again, that excitement she felt before surged through her. Only one slice of the knife and the blood will spill. It was so inviting, the pulses of the men luring her in. She couldn't help herself.

Chuckling to herself, she reached down and pulled the kunai pouch off of the man's right leg. Walking back to the center of the field, she turned and looked at the men. There they were, all lined up, all nailed to the trees, waiting for her, like pulsing, human target boards. Taking a kunai out of the pouch, she admired it's sleekness, it's stability. She threw it in the air, playing with it, and when she caught it, without even turning her head, she threw it with horrifying precision at the man on the farthest left. In a split second, the kunai had pierced his heart, to be exact, the left chamber of his heart, and killed him.

Seeing what had happened to that man, the other eight started to scream in horror. They tried to pull themselves free, but the kunai had been stuck in the trees too tightly. They were all trapped. Their screams filled the sky and only spurred Nao on even more. By this time, she had lost all control. Her eyes were not the same; her usual silky brown irises had hardened into a dark blood red.

Nao reached into the pouch and pulled out another kunai. She looked around, seeing the tears on the men's faces, contemplating who to pick. Then suddenly, she felt a slight pain in her left leg as she reflexively dodged an oncoming kunai.

Taken aback, Nao looked for the attacker. It had been the man who she had knocked out. He had awakened and was aiming for her, badly, she should say. When he saw her eyes land on his, he quickly scampered and attempted to free his comrades. Nao shook her head and sighed.

"How pathetic you are," she said loudly enough for him to hear. Then, as his wide eyes turned to face her, she sent a kunai straight through his head.

Again, the men cried out, begging for their lives, but Nao was having too much fun. She licked her lips in anticipation, then, one by one, she killed the men.

After her mass slaughter, Nao's eyes dulled down. Her eyes snapped open, as if she were coming out of a trance. She blinked, dazed and confused…then she saw the corpses of the men's bodies, hanging gruesomely on the trees.

Putting her hand to her mouth, she tried to hold in a sob, but seeing the blood upon their flesh, she couldn't. How could she have lost it so badly? Sinking to the floor, her body shook with each cry that left her lips. She looked down at herself. Taking the nearest kunai she raised it up as if to kill herself, but she couldn't. This happened too often, and each time she tried to kill herself, she knew that she couldn't do it. Gripping the blade of the kunai, she felt the blood seep from her hand as it cut her palm.

Then suddenly, she felt woozy. She grabbed her swords and stuck them in the ground, using them as a crutch to stand up. She had overdone it, like she knew she would. The chakra deficit within her body started to eat away at her, and before she knew it, everything went black.

* * *

"Naruto! How the hell could you get us lost!? You've been to Suna a thousand times!" a pink haired girl called out, stepping through the brambles and undergrowth of the forest. Though the sun was streaming through the leaves of the tall trees, it was still impossible to see where one was going.

"Sakura-chan! I told you, I'm not lost! I'm just…exploring the surrounding area," a blonde boy with clear blue eyes replied. Actually, that was somewhat true. Naruto had felt a strange disturbance, an uncomfortable aura emanating from the forest, so in a spur-of-the moment feeling, he had walked into the forest. Then, AFTER he had walked into the forest, he got lost. So in part, he was telling the truth.

"For crying out loud, Naruto. You're the Hokage now. How are you still such a dumbass?" a blonde girl cried out, nearly tripping over an overgrown tree root.

"Ino! You better shut up before I—" But Naruto never finished his sentence as he stepped into a clearing.

"Holy shit," he whispered under his breath. He was frozen in horror. As Sakura and Ino walked up behind him, they, too, gasped in terror. In front of them lay a gruesome sight.

Hanging from nine trees, there were nine bodies, bloody and macabre. The corpses were held up by kunai and shuriken, and some of the men's eyes were still open in terror.

"Sweet Kami…what…what happened here?!" Ino cried out, too frightened, too horrified to move. She grasped a tree trunk, stabilizing herself before she passed out. Sakura walked onto the field, graciously unpinning the men from the trees. She was a medic-nin. Of course she could handle this.

Meanwhile, Naruto was occupied with something else. He glanced towards the center of the field, then realizing what he saw, he called out, "Hey! There's a girl there! I think…I think she's alive!"

The three shinobi ran over to the body, and indeed, it was a girl. She was badly scratched and was terribly thin, but nonetheless, she was breathing.

Sakura, being the experienced one, quickly checked her vitals. Not good. "She's in a bad condition. Blood loss, chakra deficit, malnutrition. We have to get her to a hospital before she dies."

"Suna's only about a mile away. Come on!" Ino cried out, getting over her shock and switching into kunoichi mode. The three of them quickly ran out of the field and into the forest in the direction of Suna, hoping that they would make it in time to save the poor survivor's life.


	3. There's Something About

Summary: Control: It was her sole existence, her ultimate goal…and the reason why she needed him almost as much as he wanted her.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. Sigh…if only if only.

Pairing: GaaraOC

A/N: Alright guys! Chapter 3! Eh, this is kind of a transitioning chapter. I hope you all dont hate me for how completely uneventful it is. Oh yes, just a forewarning. –sigh- Thanksgiving break is almost over for me, so when school restarts again, I'll be tied down with homework and such. SO. I will update slower…I'll try for a chapter every week but yeah. That's just a foreshadow of what is to come. Anyways, apologies for the gruesome images in the last chapter! This one will be better! Pinky promise! Rate&review please(:

Control

_**Chapter 3:**_

_**There's Something About…**_

"So tell me again…exactly what happened?" Gaara asked while massaging his head. It had been such a good day. He had finished all his paper work, no fan girls had chased him, and he'd even finished that crossword he'd been working on all week. Then, Naruto and company walked into his village with a half dead stranger and news about some mini massacre.

Not exactly something he was excited about.

"We were walking in the forest when we saw a clearing. When we walked into it…what we saw was horrifying. There were nine corpses, killed by kunai plunged straight into their hearts or straight through the brain. One was dead on the floor, and the girl we found just lying there," Sakura debriefed him.

"She must have been a survivor of the attack," Naruto said.

Gaara nodded silently, contemplating the situation. "Where's Ino? Wasn't she there too? Did she see anything?"

"She's with Shikamaru. And she saw just as much as we did."

Another nod. Man, Gaara sure was talkative today. "How's the girl, Sakura?"

"When we first brought her in, she wasn't looking too hot. The extreme loss of chakra she suffered took a toll on her body. Also, she lost a lot of blood; the kunai cut on her hand was extremely deep. Oh yeah, and she's malnourished to the point of almost dying. But don't worry. Now, she's doing well. Your hospital's facilities are helping to nourish her back to good health, Gaara."

Nodding a thank you, Gaara turned to Naruto. "What are your plans for her, Naruto?"

The blonde Hokage chuckled and scratched his head nervously. "Well, Gaara, aha. Since we're leaving tomorrow, and the girl is in no condition to travel...we were planning on leaving her with you…here in Suna."

Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow, so as to say 'yeah right.'

Naruto tried agian. "Please, Gaara? If she's any trouble, we'll take full responsibility. It's just…we feel kinda bad for her, losing her men like that. That must have been a freaking terrible thing to see..."

The two shinobi watched in suspense as the Kazekage thought it over…and they breathed out sighs of relief when he nodded.

"But I'm warning you both, if I find out she's a spy or some dangerous lunatic, I'm killing her on the spot," he said in that dull, yet clear, voice of his.

Sakura and Naruto awkwardly chuckled, unsure, not knowing whether or not he was joking, when Temari opened the door.

"Hey, the nurses say the girl should wake up pretty soon. If you wanna question her, now's the best chance."

With a nod from the Kazekage as confirmation, everyone stood up and walked out the door.

In the girl's hospital room, they all crowded around her bed. The two of them examined her, but not as carefully as Gaara did. Years of experience taught him to scrutinize and observe visitors to the village very carefully for signs of trouble or danger.

His gaze traveled along her arms, noting that though they were skinny, they were lean and toned. She might have been a kunoichi. A bandage was wrapped around her right hand. From what Sakura told him, that was covering up the scar of the kunai cut. The rest of her body was covered by a blanket, but Gaara could see she had a lean, yet petite build, no doubt at this point too skinny from the lack of food.

As his aquamarine eyes ran over the girl's face, he noticed that her cheeks were slightly too gaunt, too hollow, for her facial structure; a sure sign of malnourishment. Slight scratches covered her skin, but other than that, she was fine. More than fine. Even Gaara couldn't help notice that she was very beautiful. Her brown hair formed a certain halo around her head upon the pillow, and some strands were abandoned on her cheeks.

Something was extremely mesmerizing about this woman. As he leaned in closer for a better look of her face, wiping away some stray hairs from her face, suddenly, her eyes snapped open.

Cyan met brown as the two stared at each other for a split second. Then the woman whispered, "…Tanzou?"

Gaara straightened, but the girl grabbed his arm and pulled him close. Everyone was taken aback, especially Gaara.

"Tanzou! You're…you're alive! I can't believe it! I thought Rou killed you!" she cried out, sobbing into Gaara's shoulder.

Confused and bewildered, Gaara pulled away from her, against her protests. "I'm not this Tanzou person you speak of."

"No! Tanzou please! Please don't go. Please," the girl begged, tears running down her cheeks. She reached for him, but Gaara stepped away. When Gaara moved even further from her, her face distorted into a mask of pain, and she lowered her head into her hands, sobbing.

Gaara looked at the others, who were just as confused and at a loss as he was. Then, Sakura stepped forward and placed her hand on the girl's head. A soft, green glow illuminated the girl's features, and she closed her eyes as Sakura pulsed chakra into her senses.

After a few moments, the woman's eyes fluttered open. She blinked and looked around, discombobulated, then, noticing there were other people in the room, her eyes widened. In a flash, she jumped out of the bed and rushed towards the door. Everyone rushed after her, but Gaara was the quickest. He put his arms around the girl, picked her off the ground, and placed her on the bed, holding her still though she was struggling.

"Let me go! Whoever you are!" she cried out, fighting hard against Gaara's firm grip. If it weren't for the fact that she was completely covered in ONLY bandages, and that they were about to slip right off and leave her stark naked, Nao would have fought harder against his hold. But unfortunately, she couldn't.

"We're not going to hurt you," Sakura said patiently. The squirming brunette looked up from the bed and into Sakura's emerald green eyes. For a few moments, they just stared at each other, as if they were having a silent conversation. Then the girl stopped struggling.

Taking a deep breath, the brunette took her hands from Gaara's and grabbed the hospital blanket, covering herself with it. "Okay. Where am I? Who are you?"

"You're in Sunagakure. I'm Sakura Haruno, medical kunoichi of Konoha. This is Naruto Uzumaki, the Hokage, and this man is Gaara no Sabaku, the Kazekage."

The girl's brown eyes traveled from person to person, and when they landed on Gaara, they were still. Her gaze explored Gaara's face, but he did not let up his unfaltering stare.

"What…am I doing here?" the girl finally asked. She turned to Sakura, her face confused, but guarded.

"We found you in a clearing, surrounded by corpses."

Her eyes widened. "Were there…ten men?"

Upon seeing their nods, she whispered, "Are they all dead…?"

With a grim nod, Naruto said, "Yes. I'm sorry. They were all stabbed to death by kunai. It seems whoever killed them, though, spared your life."

Upon hearing that, the girl looked away and placed her hand over her mouth. She was silent for a few moments, then she sadly whispered, "I see. Please…make sure…my men get proper burials. They were very brave."

A gentle smile appeared on Naruto's face. "No problem. Now, we have to ask you some questions."

The girl looked up at them, her stare the only agreement they needed to continue.

"What is your name and what village do you come from?" Sakura asked.

"I am Nao…Komara. I live in a village just outside the Mist."

Sakura and Naruto nodded, satisfied with the answer. But the ever-so-slight hesitation in her voice did not slip past Gaara…

"What were you doing when you were attacked?" Naruto questioned.

"I'm the daughter of a wealthy painter who died when I was 10. I decided to travel the world, so my grandmother sent ten of our family guards to escort me on my travels. We were just going on our way when suddenly a man attacked my men and killed them. I tried to stop him, but he threatened me and the next thing I knew…I'm here."

"What about the kunai cut on your hand? How did that happen?" Sakura asked.

Nao's shut her eyes tightly, as if she was trying to forget. "He held up a kunai to my neck. The only way I could push it away was by grabbing the blade. As I did, he encompassed my hand with his and made me squeeze the kunai until my hand bled."

Naruto looked between Sakura and Gaara, then said, "Do you remember who this man was?"

Nao's shook her head slowly. "It was too dark…but he had long hair. I remember that much."

After a few moments of silence, Naruto cleared his throat. Scratching his head, he said, "Ah, this makes it hard to track him down. All we know is that he has long hair… Well, we better tell our ANBU about this."

Gaara nodded in reply.

"We'll see you later, Gaara," Sakura said. "I'll let the hospital nurses handle this from now on."

The pink-head turned to the girl. "Feel better, Nao."

And with that she left with Naruto following behind her, leaving Gaara and Nao in an awkward, pregnant silence.

The girl scratched her head; Gaara cleared his throat and looked away. Neither of them knew exactly what to say.

Then suddenly, Nao mumbled, "Um…Kazekage-sama?"

Gaara turned to face her. "Yes?"

"Am…I going to be staying in Suna?"

"Unless you have other plans, yes." He looked over at the girl. Relief was plastered all over her face.

"…Do you have other plans?" he asked, to clarify.

A smile, a drop-dead gorgeous smile, blossomed on her lips and in her eyes. "No, Kazekage-sama. I do not."

With a curt nod, he walked over to the window and looked out. There was something so disarming about those brown eyes of hers…she made him feel uncomfortable. "During your stay at the hospital, I'll get someone to find an apartment for you. Once you are discharged, you can start living there straight after. "

"Thank you Kazekage-sama…Um, I hope I'm not being rude by asking this, by why are you being so gracious towards me?"

Gaara was silent for a few moments. "You're lucky the Hokage is such a good friend of mine. His kindness is what is keeping you here."

Expecting the girl to be hurt, he heard her say, "Fair enough." He turned to her, and after a quick nod in her general direction, he left and shut the door behind him.

Outside the room, Temari was waiting for her brother. When Gaara walked out, he quietly said, "Nao Komara. Mist. Look her up." Temari nodded and walked away while Gaara walked in the other direction. He couldn't forget that hesitation in her tone when she had told them her name. Either she was unsure of whether or not to trust them…or she was lying. Also, what was with her…and that Tanzou, whoever he was. Gaara made a mental note to keep tabs on her.

Gaara had an uneasy feeling. His mind was still lingering on the image of that girl. He couldn't get her out of his head…there was something so charismatic about her. He didn't like it. A girl like her would only slow Gaara down, and that would definitely not be good.

As he walked out of the hospital, he whispered to himself, "There's something about that girl…"

* * *

Lying down on the bed, Nao stared up at the ceiling. She thanked the stars that she had gotten away with everything so cleanly. The guilt of slaughtering those men still hung over her heart…but relief was in there too. She didn't even have to make up some ridiculous story; the sweet and amiable Hokage practically did it for her.

Nao was about to lie back down when she though of her swords. Frantically looking around for her things, Nao scanned the whole room until she saw both her pack and her two swords lying in the corner of the room.

_Thank Kami_, she thought to herself. _If I had lost my swords…I think I might have died._

Sighing in contentment, she leaned back on the fluffy white hospital pillow. Her mind wandered, skipping past the door and following that handsome Kazekage. He was...really hot, Nao would admit…but he was frightening. Not in a intimidating way, but in a way that made her want to take out her heart and squish it. Those eyes were way too much like Tanzou's. If she had stared any longer into them, she feared she would have exploded. When he had stared at her, she felt like…like she was completely exposed, butt naked. And that red hair was too similar to Tanzou's orange locks. The resemblance was scary.

Maybe that's why she was so intrigued with the Kazekage: because he looked like Tanzou. Closing her eyes, Nao thought of him, that scar still fresh in her heart._ No way will I fall for that creepy Kazekage. I only love Tanzou. _

Trailing her hand through her hair, against her will, though, she thought of the Kazekage, Gaara no Sabaku. That name sounded oddly familiar. Nao rolled onto her side and furrowed her brow in concentration. Biting her lip out of habit, she gave up trying to figure out who the Kazekage really was and decided to sleep.

Whoever he was, though…there was something about that Kazekage…

* * *

A/N: Ah. Sorry. This chapter is oddly…really short. Sorry sorry! Anyways! OMG REVIEWS. :D I'm so excited. Thank you all for reading this and giving me such encouragement. I feel the flame of youth burning within me! (heh, like Lee and Gai says…) Anyways, to my dear readers:

**gaarafreek- **oh thank you(: people don't usually compliment my writing style, so I really appreciate that! And look! Gaara's in this chapter XD Yeah, I was afraid of putting him in the story too early…but now that I've finally squished him in there, I hope that his entrance wasn't too abrupt!

**focheesey-coolness-1-** aw thanks! Nao's a super cool character. And LOL yeah, kim is really excited about it(: I mean…have you read her review? (heh. Hi kim.) I'm glad you liked my first chapter! I'll try and update as quickly as I physically and mentally can! Oh yeah. And the second chapter, with the whole attack from icheru's men? That was based off of your idea! Kim told it to me and I was like 'dude let's do that.' (: SO THANK YOU.

**kim-** HI KIM. OMG DON'T YOU JUST LOVE NAO. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS CHARACTER. SHE'S AN AMAZING CHARACTER! I cannot express my gratitude. She's such a fun character to experience! Thank you so much! And I'm glad you liked the story! ALSO. I've taken into account your idea for chapter 20. (: just saying. also. get a fanfic account T___T

**Kichigai sunayasha-** aw you are way too sweet! Really I was so scared no one would like the story. Then I saw what you said and I thought to myself "aw, I can make someone want to read?!" (: so thank you and do not fear! More chapters are (hopefully T___T) on their way!

**Dreamingofmagic-** (: thank you thank you thank you! Ahaha and she has brown hair! Thanks for reminding me. Sigh, I always forget to put those small details in T___T aiyo. You need to keep reminding me, please. D: I always over look these things. LOL and sometimes, I need a little rushing. (: so here you go! Here's chapter 3! Sorry it's so short D: still, nonetheless, I hope you enjoy it!

THANK YOU MY WONDERFUL READERS! (:


	4. A Job For the Brother

A/N: Hey guys! Welcome to chapter four! :D hopefully by now, you know what story this is (Control!) and hopefully, you have read the other chapters…if not…I suggest doing so…(ahem) But anyways! Thank you for reading. I felt a little…neehhh today, so I wrote this chapter. It's not really much…it's another transition chapter, in my opinion, but still, I hope you all enjoy it! And again, I say, I DON'T OWN NARUTO.

_Control_

_**Chapter 4:**_

_**A Job For the Brother**_

"89…90…91…" Nao grunted as she pushed herself up and off the floor with her right hand. After a good night's rest in the hospital, she felt extremely refreshed the next morning, so, she had decided to fit in some pushups, sit-ups, a few pull-ups on the curtain rod. A little exercise never hurt anybody.

A knock on the door caused Nao to leap to her feet and jump onto her bed. Shortly after, the petite, blonde nurse that had been taking care of her, Aimi, entered in.

"Good morning, Nao-sama."

"Good morning, Aimi," she said with a smile. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm allowed to be discharged today, right?"

Aimi smiled gently. "That is correct. Let me just check your bandages, and then you can go ahead and change into your clothes."

With a sigh of relief, Nao sat still as Aimi quickly tightened up the wrappings around her body and her hand. Finally, she was getting out. Confinement really wasn't her thing. It was nice to have someone feeding her and taking care of her, but she didn't like to stay restricted to a single room.

After another brief glance-over, Aimi patted Nao on the arm and left the room. As quickly as her body would physically let her, she threw on her clothes and was out the door without even a second look.

Waving goodbye to Aimi and the other nurses, Nao practically sprinted out the main entrance…only to be stopped by a man with brown hair and…purple face paint?

"Whoa there, girl! Where's the fire?" the man asked her, putting his hands up to stop her from trampling over him.

Confused, Nao asked, "What fire?"

The man stared at her, blinking, then he laughed. "A sense of humor…I like it."

Nao looked at him with a weird expression on her face. The man had weird purple markings cover his face, and on his back was something wrapped in bandages. He didn't seem dangerous, just childish.

"Who are you?" she asked him, somewhat tired from meeting so many people at once.

"Me? My name's Kankuro. I'm Gaara's brother."

"The Kazekage?"

"Last I checked…yeah," he joked with a silly grin on his face.

"Oh," Nao said. "Well hi. Are you the one who's going to show me to my new apartment?"

"Sure am!" he said, adding on a smug grin.

"Great! Lead the way," Nao said, eager to see her new home.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Man, you sure are in a hurry. Now, what kind of host would I be if I didn't take you out to lunch, first?" he told her owlishly.

Nao stared at him with an arched eyebrow. She was about to reject the offer, but her stomach eagerly agreed with him, and smiling, she said, "Well, if you put it that way…"

Kankuro laughed and started walking, with Nao close on his heels. As they walked through the village, he pointed out different shops, waving to different people. The passerby villagers waved back to Kankuro, but when they saw Nao, they turned away and whispered to each other. Apparently, word had gotten out about the 'massacre' she had been involved in.

Unsure and uncomfortable, Nao kept her gaze ahead. Kankuro, who was busy chatting away, didn't even notice the whispers around them. Completely at ease, he led the two of them to a ramen shop.

When they entered the shop, a heavenly smell floated around Nao. Immediately, she realized how ravenous she was. They sat down and Kankuro waved a girl over.

"Hey Kankuro," the girl said. She was a busty redhead wearing too much make up and not enough clothes. "What can I get you and your…friend?"

"Hm…You eat Tonkotsu ramen, Nao?" Kankuro asked, looking at Nao.

"Um, sure," she replied, not completely sure what that was.

"Okay, then. Yuri, two Tonkotsu ramens please!"

The redhead, Yuri, winked at him and walked away, shaking her hips a little too rambunctiously. She reminded Nao of a pendulum gone berserk.

"So, Nao," Kankuro said, taking his stare away from Yuri's behind and facing Nao. "Not being rude…but what's a tiny girl like you doing with two monstrous swords? You don't look like the swordsman type."

Nao smiled. Knowing she would face this question eventually, she had already prepared an explanation. "Oh, I'm not. I'm a painter. I can't swing a sword to save my life. They're my father's prize collectibles. After my parents died, these were two of the few things I couldn't throw away."

"Ah," Kankuro said, satisfied with the answer. "Oh, and I'm sorry about your parents. I didn't mean to offend, if I did…"

A small chuckle was Nao's response. "No, it's fine. You didn't know."

They sat in an awkward silence for a while, neither of them knowing how to continue the conversation. Then suddenly, Kankuro blurted out, "So you single?"

Surprised by the random and terribly blunt topic, she wondered if Kankuro was bipolar and mumbled, "Uh…not really?"

"Not really?" Kankuro said with raised eyebrows. "Hm. Well…I should have known a girl like you would have a boyfriend. Ah, and I thought I had a chance."

An amused smile grazed Nao's lips. "Well maybe in another lifetime."

Kankuro chuckled. "Ouch! Oh, you know I'm just playing with you." Then, Nao's suspicion of his sudden mood changes seemed to be confirmed, for he turned serious. "I heard about your men. I'm sorry. It must have been terrible to watch."

Furrowing her brow, Nao felt shame, but, in hopes that Kankuro would read her emotion as sadness, she said, "It's alright. They were very brave, and their lives were not lost in vain."

"Don't worry," he said, with genuine concern in his eyes. "Suna's a good village. You'll be safe in here."

_It's your own safety that you should be worrying about, not mine,_ Nao thought sadly to herself in her head. Nonetheless, she grinned up at Kankuro. "I know I will be."

"So how long are you planning on staying?"

Pursing her lips, Nao considered her answer carefully. "I'm not really sure. Maybe a month or two? Or, you know, until whenever your brother kicks me out."

Her comment received a laugh from Kankuro. "He won't kick you out unless you're a mass murderer, Nao, don't worry."

Managing to force a fake laugh out of her gut, she looked away guiltily. Kankuro mistook her expression and said, "Hey, don't mind Gaara. Really. He's a lot…uh…nicer than he seems."

Making a face, Nao dryly said, "Not much of a talker is he?"

"Oh man, count your blessings. He used to be a lot worse."

Nao raised a brow. "Really?"

Nodding slowly like an old sage, Kankuro said prudently, "Oh heck yeah. I mean, back then, you couldn't even look him in the eye without crapping your pants."

Confused, Nao prodded curiously. "Well it doesn't seem that way now."

"Hm, well after he lost Shukaku, you know, the fear kinda died away. You could say he really broke out of his shell. Now, he's got girls chasing him everywhere instead of running away from him."

At the sound of the word 'Shukaku,' Nao's eyes opened wide. That's where she had heard the name; that's why he had sounded so familiar. Gaara had been the container of the one-tailed demon. She had heard many stories about them, and her clan had buzzed with gossip after news about the Akatsuki had spread. She mentally smacked her forehead; why hadn't she remembered earlier?

But there was still something she didn't understand. "Doesn't…the container die when the jinchuuriki is extracted?"

Kankuro's dark brown eyes flickered to her face. "Beauty AND brains," he joked, but his face had become slightly solemn. "Yes, Gaara did die. But, one of our elders sacrificed her life to bring him back."

A bit stunned, Nao was quiet before she replied with a gentle smile. "Well, that must have been one heck of a woman."

With those words, just like that, the humorous Kankuro was back. "Yeah. She was quite the granny. She could smack you around real good."

Then, before either of them could say anything else, the ramen came. Yuri set down two large, steaming bowls in front of Nao and Kankuro. She placed down some chopsticks, then smiled a seductive grin and Kankuro.

"Thanks, babe," Kankuro said to Yuri, who giggled and walked away.

One whiff of the ramen and Nao just about died. Meticulously, she broke a pair of chopsticks and placed some in her mouth.

"Holy…" she muttered with her mouth full.

Kankuro, who had also eaten some of his bowl, chuckled. "Good, right?"

"Amazing…" Nao whispered, awestruck. Even though she couldn't remember the last time she had had a hot meal, it was still the best ramen she had ever tasted. She dug into the bowl and before she knew it, it was gone and she was stuffed. Leaning back contently, she sighed and set down her chopsticks.

"That was so good. Thank you, Kankuro," she graciously told him as he pulled out some money and stood up.

Another hearty laugh was his response. "Anything for the pretty lady. So you ready to see your apartment?"

Eagerly nodding, Nao stood up and followed him out the shop. As they walked, again, through the village, she knew better than to look around this time. Avoiding the gazes of the villagers, she kept her eyes locked on the wrapped object on Kankuro's back. By the time they'd reached her apartment, she felt like she knew every stitch on every bandage of Kankuro's strange backpack.

Leading her up the steps, Kankuro smiled as he handed her the key. "Here you go. I'll leave you to yourself now, but if you need me, just call my name and I'll be here," he said with a wink.

Nao smiled. "Well, I'm sure I won't need much, but thank you." She waved goodbye as Kankuro flashily leapt off the side railing of the apartment complex and strolled away. He was an odd guy. Though he tried to act like a playboy, Nao could tell he was sweet. Grinning to herself, Nao unlocked her door and stepped into her apartment.

"Gaara no Sabaku…" she mumbled to herself. "What a brother you have."

* * *

After dropping Nao off at her apartment, Kankuro walked into the Kazekage's office, not even bothering to knock. He sat down in the chair in front of his brother and put his feet up on the desk.

"Well?" Gaara said, without even looking up from his paper work.

"Man, the guys at the hospital were right," Kankuro exclaimed, overexcited. "She's smoking hot. About 5' 2''...a little too skinny, for my taste, but still sexy. I assume she's 100 pounds, 105, maybe a B-cup. Kami, and that smile—"

"I told you to get information about her family background, not give her a physical checkup, Kankuro," Gaara practically growled.

His puppet-master of a brother laughed guiltily. "Right…well…I didn't really get much out of her...But I do know that she's a painter, the swords on her back are her father's collectibles cause apparently she 'can't swing a sword to save her life', and her parents are dead."

"Is that all you got?"

Kankuro was silent. Then, "Yes. But! Before you hurt me, I do know this much: she's not an idiot."

Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mentioned Shukaku. The instant she even heard the word, her muscles tensed. And she knew that extracting a jinchuuriki was fatal. So she's not stupid."

Gaara stared at his brother for a while. Then he nodded curtly. "Anything else?"

Kankuro shook his head. Knowing his brother wouldn't ask for more, he stood up and walked out, shutting the door behind him, leaving the redheaded Kazekage to ponder the strange newcomer to his village.

* * *

A/N: Ah. That was short chapter too. Sorry, guys. Not much interaction between Nao and Gaara JUST YET. But, you wait. Oho, just you wait! Anyways…To my beloved readers:

**dreamingofmagic- **aw yay! Thank you. Truthfully, Gaara is my favorite character to write with. I can just imagine the raw and blunt thoughts and emotions he's experiencing! And thank you! Nao is quite the character. And I'm really glad you can relate. I was scared that I would let my imagination run wild and make her some far-out, unbelievable psycho, but I'm glad that didn't happen. Thank you thank you. Sigh. This chapter is probably…less satisfactory. BUT NONETHELESS! Read on, dear reader, read on. (:

**focheesey-coolness-1**-Two chapters in a night. Man, those were the days. Unfortunately, now I'm reduced to a chapter every week or so…gosh darn high school. Oh the burden students must bear, hm? In hindsight, though, I'll probably refrain from updating too quickly for a couple of reasons…a) I find that I often skip ahead in plot lines too much, so the story seems really rushed; b) to keep my readers in SUSPENSE (ooh –evil chuckle-); c) editing; I make many mistakes when I first write a chapter. So yes, though I am grateful for the praise you are giving me on my efficiency with updating, don't expect it too often, dear reader(: and thank you! If I have any concerns about the plot, I'll ask Kim to relay my thoughts to you!

**kim- **it seemed uneventful to me! And thank you; I'm glad Nao is satisfactory in your eyes. I'm just apologizing in advance if she doesn't turn out the way you want in the future though. She's quite a hard character to put a lid on. And, oh come on. Just make a new account! Then you can start writing your own stories!

**Gaaras1Girl-** Wow, I didn't think you were going to review; that was very kind of you to humbly read my fanfiction. Anyways, thank you! I find Gaara somehow hard to keep in character because he's so…weird. That's practically the only adjective I can think of to describe him at the moment. Thank you, thank you! And oh please. Sleep Reviewing. No matter how much I like to see reviews on my story (thank you thank you), I do love my beauty sleep more!

**Thank you all!**


	5. She Paints A Pretty Picture

A/N: Hey there, readers. Sorry for the slow updates. For the past month, I've been studying for exams, and now, as I speak, I am in the car, on the way to Colorado. Heh. Oh the beauty of laptops and portable inverters. So since I haven't updated in about a month, I'll try and write as much as I can (but don't worry, I won't just write some crappy chapters to get it over with; I will edit with zeal!...is that proper grammar?) and then I'll post them consecutively. Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! Reviews are greatly appreciated. ACTUALLY REVIEWS ARE REQUIRED. REVIEW GOSH DARN IT. I'm kidding. Just enjoy the story, and I'll be happy…nonetheless, reviews are nice.

Control

_**Chapter 5:**_

_**She Paints A Pretty Picture**_

As rays of sunlight streamed into the room through the windows of the apartment, they caressed and attempted to comfort the fitful, sleeping brunette. She was rolling in her sleep, restless and uncomfortable. There was sweat on her brow, and her face was distorted into a mask of pain, fear. She muttered, as if trying to scare away whatever was chasing her in her dreams. Then, with a sudden gasp, her eyes snapped open and she sat up panting. Frightened and confused, she looked around for a few seconds, not recognizing where she was. Then it hit her. She was safe. In her…apartment.

Pulling the covers off of her, Nao slid off the bed and walked to open the curtains. Suna greeted her openly through her window, and as she stared out, she was comforted by the busy flow of people and their interactions. Crossing her arms, she looked over at the clock. 2:36 PM. How long had it been since she had slept in? She couldn't even remember.

Unsure of what to do first, Nao decided to step into the shower. After a quick 15 minutes, she was dressed and in the kitchen, attempting to scavenge a meal from the empty refrigerator and cabinets. Though she had looked for a good amount of time, all she could find was a cup of instant ramen. Not exactly the most nutritious breakfast, but it would have to do.

Nao sat at the kitchen table waiting for the hot water to work its magic. As she stirred her ramen, her thoughts drifted back to her dream. That had been scary; the dreams were getting more vivid with each night. Last night she had revisited another horrifying distortion of Tanzou's death, with his face not only melting off, but crawling over her and encasing her body with darkness, icy cold, and bleak darkness.

Shaking away the chills, Nao snapped back to reality and uncovered her ramen. The warm aroma drifted up to her nose, and she mumbled, "Itadakimasu," before digging in. As she chewed her noodles, she weighed her options in her head.

Truthfully, she felt a little lost. Never before had she had so much freedom to do whatever she wished. There were so many options to choose from, so many things she could do without the fear of being restricted or punished. Feeling like a child, she decided that the best thing for her to do would be to get a job; she wouldn't be able to survive long just off of the money she had brought from the estate. After getting a job…she would just wing it.

She quickly finished and threw away her ramen, then put on her shoes and headed toward the door. Glancing back, she saw her swords, and Nao contemplated bringing them. Was it normal to carry gigantic weapons around the village? She decided that it probably wouldn't be the best thing to do, considering she was already on shaky terms with the Kazekage and the village. Also, if she lost it, it wouldn't exactly be good to have her swords within grasp. She pulled the key out from her pocket, then locked the door and headed towards the village.

As she passed through the sandy streets, again, she received many stares. Some of the stares were condescending and frightened, others curious and intrigued. And then there were the stares that made Nao feel naked or strangely violated. A couple of rowdy men called out to her as she passed, whistling and calling out names she hadn't heard before. Uncomfortable, Nao quickly turned into a grocery store and looked around.

When she spotted the manager behind the counter, she quickly walked towards him. When he glanced up at her, she saw his eyes become alert, almost frightened, and his gaze become apprehensive.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," he said politely. "What can I do for you?"

Nao put on her best smile and said, "I was wondering if you have any job openings."

She might as well have slapped the man, for the look on his face was one of pure shock. He stumbled upon his words and finally managed to say, "Um…uh…no. I'm afraid that w-we do not. So sorry, ma'am."

Plastering on a fake smile, Nao nodded in understanding and left the shop. A little disheartened, Nao tried to perk herself up. _No worries,_ she thought to herself. _Not everyone is as paranoid as that man. I'm sure there's someone who'll hire me…_

Apparently not. After searching for a good hour, she had traipsed across practically the whole village looking for a job. Shop after shop, she had entered with high hopes, only to be shot down with the wary gazes of the shop owners. Each one had used a variation of the excuses 'Sorry, we don't have enough background information about your past experience', 'Sorry, we only hire those who have lived in Suna for at least a year', and one man had even said, 'Sorry, we aren't hiring,' though there had been a huge WAITRESS WANTED sign on his restaurant window. Frustrated and dejected, Nao kicked a rock on the ground. Accidentally using too much force, the rock flew through the air and whacked a man in the head. Nao quickly turned away before the man had even turned around.

She continued to pace through the streets, avoiding the glances of onlookers. She kept her gaze down most of the way, so she didn't notice when she ran into the back of a certain Kazekage.

"Oh, I'm so—" Nao started but stopped when her eyes met those of Gaara's. Again, she was overwhelmed by the striking resemblance he held to Tanzou. Regaining her composure, she blinked away her discomfort and finished her apology.

"Forgive me, Kazekage-sama. I didn't…see you." She smiled nervously up at him, having to lean back a bit to look him square in the face. She was a lot shorter than he remembered…

His reply was a stoic nod. His eyes grazed over her face, and he mumbled, "How…are you faring?"

A little unsure of how to answer, Nao put on a weak smile. "Oh, pretty good…Suna is beautiful."

"Yes…it is...I hope you have settled in well?"

She smiled genuinely this time. "Yes, very well, thank you. And thank you for the apartment. Now all I need to complete my Suna life is a job."

Gaara wanted to raise an eyebrow…not like he had any, but still.

"A job?" he asked. "Where have you looked?"

"You know, a couple of shops here and there."

"Have you been successfully so far?" he inquired politely.

He saw her chuckle a little guiltily. "Ah…not exactly…"

As he thought. The rumors circulating her and the massacre were outrageous. It'd be impossible for her to get a job by herself…

"If I recall correctly," he started, "you're a painter?"

Nao looked up at him and nodded.

"Hm. I believe I can work something out. Follow me, Komara-san."

Nao was hesitant, for the Kazekage was quite the strange man, but she decided whatever he had to offer couldn't be any worse that what she had already experienced…so she followed him.

Gaara led her to a large, but humble looking square building. The inside was bright and open, with sunlight streaming through the numerous windows placed along the walls. There were a few small rooms, concealed by wooden doors. Nao smiled as she walked through the shop, passing paintings that hung on the slanted ceiling.

At the back of the shop, there was a young man who looked to be about thirty or so. He was facing sideways, focusing all his attention upon the easel in front of him. A steady hand held a thin paint brush that lightly swept across the canvas. The man's concentration was intense, and Gaara was wise enough to remain silent until the man had set down the paint brush.

"Welcome to The Easel," the man said robotically, his gaze never leaving the artwork in front of him. "What can I do for you?"

"We were wondering if you have a job opening, Dani." The instant Gaara's voice was heard, the man turned, and seeing Gaara, he grinned a toothy smile.

"Gaara! Man, it's been a while!" Nao was shocked by his easy familiarity with the Kazekage. The man, Dani, walked over and patted Gaara on the back.

"Good to see you too, Dani," Gaara replied.

"So…a job, huh? Why in the heck would you need a job, Gaara?"

"Not me," the redheaded Kazekage said. "Her."

Nao stepped from behind Gaara and gave a smile. "Hello."

"Well, hello there. And what's your name?" Dani asked in a friendly tone.

"Nao Komara," she replied.

"Nao Komara. Well then, are you a painter?"

"Not professionally...but I've done plenty of painting in my lifetime," Nao told him.

Dani squinted in concentration. "Would you say you're a good painter?"

Nao managed to widen her smile. "I'd say I'm decent."

"Good enough!" Dani exclaimed. His eagerness took Nao a bit by surprise; apparently he hadn't heard any of the rumors about her.

"Ah…thank you, Dani-san!" she said appreciatively.

"No problem. Any friend of Gaara's is a friend of mine. Now! Let's get to work. And don't call me Dani-san! Just Dani! Here, I'll give you the grand tour!" And they were off, with Dani leading Nao throughout the numerous rooms and nooks and crannies of the shop.

Gaara managed to roll his eyes. Dani's words bugged him…that strange girl was definitely not his friend…was she? Gaara quietly left the shop, not even bothering to say goodbye. As he strolled leisurely back to his office, he decided. No, she was just another traveler that Naruto told him to help, just an acquaintance and nothing more.

_Yeah. That's why I helped her get a job. Cause Naruto told me to help her._ Convinced, Gaara nodded curtly to himself as he sat down in his office chair and bent over his paper work. But still, as he continued to fill out his files, his mind lingered on the strange girl that had entered his village.

The next day, when Gaara walked into his Kage office in the morning, he noticed something wrapped on his desk. Wary and confused, he cautiously placed his hand on it. It was square, thick, like a box, but not quite. It was dense and weighed a bit in his hand.

Curious, he slowly removed the tape and unwrapped the wrapping paper. When the covering fell off, he was a little stunned.

It was a canvas. Well, not just a canvas, but a beautiful painting of Suna during a sunset. The aspects of the painting were so realistic that he felt like he could reach out and feel the individual grains of sand beneath his fingers. The shadows the buildings cast were hauntingly bewitching, and he could practically see the painted people moving about.

He lifted the painting off of his desk and saw a piece of paper fall. He grabbed the note and read the neat, but unfamiliar handwriting.

_Kazekage-sama, _

_I told you I thought Suna was beautiful. Thank you for the job. _

_Nao_

'Decent' she had said. She wasn't just decent…the painting was breathtaking. She must have worked all day yesterday to complete it. He put down the note, then set the painting along the wall of his office. He'd have his assistant hang it up later. As he worked, he constantly looked up at the painting that twinkled at him, and he couldn't help but wonder what the strange girl would paint for herself in Suna.


	6. That's What Family's For

A/N: Hey readers! Hope that so far, you're enjoying the story! Please review and tell me your opinions, because they matter to me! Okay, sit back, relax, and read!

Control

_**Chapter 6:**_

_**That's What Family's For**_

After getting Nao the job at Dani's paint shop, Gaara hadn't been to see her since. He often looked at the painting that was now hanging in his office, but other than that, he hadn't actually had physically contact with her. He thought about her often, though. Every time he glanced at the painting, his mind wandered and questioned...What was she doing? Some times, he drifted to the massacre, wondering if she was really telling the truth about the whole ordeal.

Despite his lingering thoughts on Nao, his week had been filled with constant reports of news from the other villages, and he had been so busy that each night, he actually…went to sleep. Of course, after Shukaku had been removed, he had been able to sleep, but nonetheless, it was an awkward transition after not being able to shut your eyes for more than a decade and a half.

On the start of the weekend, on his way to the office in the morning, Gaara saw his brother conversing with the girl who had been disturbing his thoughts all week. When Kankuro saw Gaara, he waved him over enthusiastically.

"Gaara! Hey, Gaara! Get over here!"

Gaara thought about just walking away for a second, but he looked over and saw Nao. She smiled at him, like he was an old friend, and waved. Sighing to himself, he walked over.

"Kankuro," he growled. Then he turned to Nao and quietly said, "Komara-san."

She smiled gently at him and said, "Good morning, Kazekage-sama."

"Whoa whoa! Kazekage-sama?" Kankuro started chuckling and slapped Gaara on the back. "Come on, babe, no need to call him that. You make him sound like he's…50 years old or something." Gaara's eye twitched, especially when he heard Kankuro call Nao 'babe'.

The sound of bells filled Gaara's ears as Nao laughed. "It's okay. I'm used to formalities."

Gaara chose to speak right then. "How is the paint shop…Nao?"

He could tell she was surprised that he used her first name. She blinked, then relaxed as she started talking about the shop. "It's great. Dani is fun to be around and…he's really quite patient with me while I'm getting the hang of things…I like it. It's just like home."

Gaara nodded his signature nod. "I'm glad to hear that."

Before Nao could say anything else, Kankuro burst out, "Oh shit, I'm gonna be late. I gotta train with my genin. Hey, Gaara, walk Nao to the shop, will ya?"

"Sure," Gaara mumbled quietly.

"Cool! Thanks. Bye, Nao!" Kankuro winked at Nao and quickly sprinted away, leaving Nao and Gaara by themselves.

The brunette turned to Gaara and said, "Shall we get going?"

Gaara nodded, but as he walked, he was thinking hard. It was Saturday…Kankuro never had genin training on the weekends…Shaking the thought out of his head, he concentrated walking with Nao.

"Thank you for the painting," he told her quietly. "It's beautiful."

Her lips turned upward into a smile. "No, thank you. I would have never found a job if you hadn't helped me out."

"No problem at all."

They were quiet for a while, then Nao spoke up. "You have quite the brother," she said with a fond smile on her lips. "He's very outspoken."

"Too outspoken sometimes," Gaara said, rolling his eyes. That pulled a small laugh out of Nao.

"Some find that a bit endearing," she said.

"Endearing, my ass. He's annoying." Again, she chuckled, shaking her head.

"But he's a good brother, no?"

Gaara thought about his response. Kankuro had always been there, even during the hard years. Thinking about that, Gaara replied, "Yes…he is."

He looked over at Nao, and he saw that she was staring up at him with an amused expression.

Trying to turn the conversation away from the 'endearing' subject, Gaara said, "Do you have siblings?"

She shook her head. "Nope. I'm an only child. My parents only wanted one so they could travel."

"Ah, I see," he said. He noticed that slight change in her tone when she hit the subject of her parents. He couldn't tell if it was a tone of sadness…or what sounded like regret. "Did you travel often?"

"Oh heck yeah," she said animatedly. "We went…everywhere, practically. I think at one point, we were going to visit Suna."

"Why didn't you?"

"They died." She was so blunt, so sudden and nonchalant, that Gaara was kind of taken aback. He guessed that she talked about it often.

"I'm…I'm sorry. I didn't know." Okay, he knew. Kankuro had told him, but still, he didn't want to seem rude.

"Don't worry about it." she said through a soft smile. And with that, they slipped into a slightly comfortable silence that threatened to slip into awkwardness.

As they walked leisurely through the streets, there were many stares and whispers being exchanged, as usual, but this time the stares were different. They were not expressions of condescending fear, but instead, they were the glares of jealous girls along the streets. Nao noted that many promiscuous girls waved to Gaara, calling out his name and cooing him to reply. But, no matter how pretty the girl or how large her…assets were, Gaara maintained his stoic composure and just nodded. In the short seven minutes or so it took for them to reach the paint shop, Nao had counted how many girls had tried to steal the Kazekage's attention: nine.

"Thank you, Kazekage-sama, for escorting me here," she said when they had reached the shop, bowing her head a little.

"Gaara."

She looked up. "What?"

Gaara wanted to smack himself. What made him say that? He hesitated slightly before saying, "Not…Kazekage-sama…Gaara."

This day was full of surprises for Nao. She stood, a little dumbfounded, then grinned. "Okay. Thank you, Gaara." Then she walked into the shop, Gaara watching after her, his eyes on her back.

Sitting at his desk, Gaara was twisting his pencil in his fingers. He was reading a treaty contract between the Mist and Suna. After some rough spots in the past year, they were on shaky terms with each other, still. The relationship between the villages was a bittersweet one.

He was on the forty-fifth page of the contract when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in," he said as he leaned back, grateful for the hiatus from his work.

Temari walked in, holding a file in her hand. She tossed it on Gaara's desk and stood beside him. Gaara examined the file. There was a single sheet of paper in it, nothing else.

"Is this all you could find?" he asked her.

He saw his sister shrug. "I searched the files of the Mist, as well as the villages around the Mist. I found two families by the name of Komara. One of them is a family of three. They own a restaurant. The other family is just a husband and his wife. They aren't rich and they aren't painters."

This made Gaara frown. "Interesting. Are you sure about this?"

Temari nodded with a grim expression on her face. Gaara sighed and massaged his forehead.

"Well, we can't confront her until we have enough information…so just keep a close watch on her for now on." he commanded quietly.

With another nod and a wave, Temari turned to walk out. She stopped at the painting and said, "Nao's work?"

Gaara's only reply was nod.

Temari smiled a mischievous smile and left the office, shutting the door behind her. After Temari left, Gaara leaned back and closed his eyes. His suspicions about Nao were riding an ultimate high. The fact that she didn't have any background information meant she had something she needed to hide, so obviously, he couldn't trust her, and therefore…she needed to be kicked out of the village.

But oddly enough, Gaara found himself hoping that Temari had made a mistake, that she just overlooked something and that Nao wasn't hiding anything. There was something so…charismatic about Nao. He realized that…he really didn't want to banish her from Suna.

Realizing this epiphany, Gaara wanted to slap himself. He was going soft. There is no way he could or ever would develop feelings for some girl he barely knew. He found her annoying sometimes, anyway. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he bent over his papers and went back to reading. When the time came, he would figure out what to do with Nao then. For now, he'd just…ignore her.

That night, Gaara trudged over to Temari's house for their usual Saturday night dinner. For some reason, after Gaara had returned from being killed by the Akatsuki, Temari thought they needed to spend some more time together. So a couple of years back, after Gaara and Kankuro had gotten their own apartments, she set up Saturday night dinners to get some more quality time with her brothers. Gaara sighed; the things people do after their family members experience death.

Walking up the steps and opening the door, the smell of Temari's fried rice hit him. He had to admit, his sister was a good cook. He called out, "Temari, I'm here." Then proceeded to take off his shoes and head to the living room. Kankuro was sitting on the couch, watching TV.

"Hey Gaara," he said, eyes still on the TV, remote in hand.

"Kankuro," Gaara acknowledged. Then he said, "Hey, what was with today…I thought you didn't meet with your genin team on weekends?"

He saw Kankuro blink, struggling for words. Something was up. "Uh…well I thought they needed to hone their skills more, so I decided to squeeze in some practice time."

Gaara made an 'ah' face, but he didn't buy it for a second. Kankuro was probably one of the worst liars he knew. He walked to the kitchen where Temari was dancing to some music while stirring a pot on the stove.

"Hey Gaara! I'm making your favorite! Shark-fin soup!" she smiled as she continued to stir, tossing various spices and mixes into the huge pot as she shook her hips in time to the beat.

"Thanks, Temari. But…that's a lot of soup," he commented in his deep, monotone voice. He wasn't kidding either. The pot on the stove top was almost as large as her torso. Actually, Temari was using her all large pots for all the food. "Why are you making so much food?"

Temari chuckled and Gaara thought she almost sounded nervous. "Well, I'm hungry tonight, and so is Kankuro. I bet you're starving too, so I just made a bunch."

Gaara made a face, then walked into the dining room. There was another placemat set. Who had they invited?

The sound of a knock on the door answered his question. Gaara called out, "I got it," then proceeded to opening the door. When he saw who it was, his eyes opened wide and for some reason, he felt funny.

"…Nao?"

He was greeted with a smile. "Hey Gaara."

So much for ignoring her. Still shocked, he just stood there. "…Wh…What are you doing here?" Did he just stutter? He reminded himself to stab himself later.

Nao made a playful expression, then said, "Oh you know, I was just in the village. I thought I'd drop by, say hello."

Her joke fell flat as Gaara still stood there, his hand still on the half-opened door. He heard Temari say, "For crying out loud," then he felt her pull him back.

"I invited her for dinner, Gaara. Let her in, geez. Who knew you were so rude?" She opened the door wider and Nao stepped into the apartment. She was still wearing the same clothes she had been wearing previously: black capris and a slightly loose, white shirt. But, instead of tying her hair up, as usual, she had let her hair down. Her straight brown hair cascaded down the side of her face and cut off about three inches below her shoulder. She looked…nice.

When Nao walked in, Kankuro got off the couch and walked over. He gave her one of those 'friendly' side hugs, but Gaara could tell he enjoyed it more than a friend should.

Gaara failed to notice previously that Nao had been carrying a plastic bag. She set it down beside the stove and pulled out a silver pan.

"I made brownies," she said, beaming. Temari laughed and set the tray down on the table while Nao went to the living room where Kankuro had once again retreated.

While Temari was in the kitchen alone, Gaara stomped in there, practically punched the stereo when he turned off the music, then glared at his sister.

"What. The HELL. Are you doing," he growled quietly.

Temari brushed off his angry tone with nonchalance. "You told me to keep a close watch on her."

"I didn't mean to invite her to dinner!" Gaara's eyes bore holes into the side of Temari's head.

His sister sighed and then turned to him. She shook her head, as if she pitied him, then patted him gently on the side of the face.

He looked up at her, waiting for her explanation as she sighed. "Look, Kankuro likes her, I like her. Whatever. She's our friend. It's fine to have friends over for dinner."

"She could be dangerous."

"Oh shut up," she said, annoyed, "we both know that you like too."

Gaara jerked back, as if he'd been slapped. "…What?"

"Mhm," Temari said, already back to facing the pots. "If it had been any other girl, you would have kicked her out of the village the instant you had a suspicion about her."

Finding himself struggling for an excuse, Gaara stated, "Naruto told me to let her stay."

That received a scoff from Temari. "HAH. Naruto tells you lots of things. Like that time he told you to dye your hair blue to match your eyes. You never listen to him. Why listen now? Why let her stay?"

Gaara opened his mouth to reply, but he couldn't answer that…Why did he let her stay? He didn't like her like _that_, he knew he didn't…it's just there's something weird about her. Before he could force something out of his mouth, Kankuro walked into the kitchen. "Temari, come on! We're starving!"

Temari laughed and replied, "Okay, okay. Grab me some plates." She turned to glare at Gaara for a second, then put the smile back on her face as soon as Nao entered the kitchen carrying two plates with bowls resting on top of them.

"Looks great, Temari," she said as she saw Temari ladle the plates and bowls with food.

"Oh don't flatter me, please."

"Yeah," Kankuro said. "Her head's big enough as it is."

Laughter filled the kitchen as Temari smacked Kankuro, and as Gaara watched the interaction between the three of them, despite the fact he was feeling rather uncomfortable with Nao around, he couldn't help but long to loosen up. Sighing to himself, he blinked as Nao turned to him and said, "Gaara! Come on! The food smells amazing. What are you waiting for?"

He stared at her as she turned back to Kankuro. Really…what was he waiting for? Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, he went to grab his plate and walked back into the kitchen.

The Sabaku dinner was a blast that night. With Nao's sarcastic humor, Kankuro's blunt stupidity, and Temari's cruel but hilarious remarks, the room was filled with laughs. Of course, Gaara just rolled his eyes and shook his head the whole time, but his mood was light. After they had finished the dinner, Kankuro grabbed a brownie from the tray.

When he bit into it, his eyes grew large. "Holy…this is amazing!"

Nao laughed and reached for one herself. "Really? I think I made them too sweet."

Kankuro waggled his eyebrows. "Hey hey, sweet brownies for a sweet lady."

Nao's brownie stopped halfway to her mouth. She made a dull face and said to Kankuro, "Shove that brownie in your mouth and shut up, Kankuro."

Temari burst out laughing and so did Nao. Upon hearing that and seeing Nao's facial expression, Gaara couldn't help it. He felt the corners of his mouth pull up and a small smile form on his lips.

He heard Nao stop laughing immediately and he looked up. She was staring at him incredulously with a smile that made him feel weird inside.

"What," he demanded rudely, the smile immediately disappearing from his lips.

"That is the first time I've seen you smile."

Gaara just stared at her, and there was an awkward silence for a second. He looked at Temari and saw that she and Kankuro were slightly smiling at each other, like they had a secret they didn't want to tell anyone.

To break the silence, Temari said, "Well that's probably the only one you'll ever see."

"Yeah, Nao, a smile from Gaara is almost as rare as seeing a girl as beautiful as you," Kankuro tried again, holding up a brown and seductively taking a bite while staring into Nao's eyes.

Nao gave him the same look as before, rolling her eyes and mumbling, "Kankuro, you're such a dork."

"But that's why you love me, babe."

"Uh huh," she laughed, and as she was laughing, she made eye contact with Gaara and rolled her eyes. Gaara's lips threatened to smile again, but he kept it under control and just rolled his eyes in return.

By the time the brownies were all gone, it was already eleven o'clock. Temari had put all the dishes in the sink and they were all sitting around, drinking and talking.

Nao took a look at the clock on the wall and sighed. "I better get going, guys. I have to go to the shop early tomorrow." Against the protests of Temari and Kankuro, she stood up and walked to put on her shoes.

"Here, Nao!" Kankuro said, stumbling out of his chair. "I'll walk you home." Nao took one look at him and the five bottles of beer on the table and smiled.

"It's okay, Kankuro."

"NO!" he cried out, drunkenly. "It's dangerous out there, love! I, your shining knight, have to keep you safe, my precious princess! I will protect you with my lance!"

"Kankuro, you idiot!" Temari snorted. "Lances are for jousting."

"Either way," Nao butted in, smiling a satirical smile. "Kankuro, I think I'll be safer if you and your...lance stay here."

"No, no, he's right," Temari said. "There are all these loons here in Suna that go ballistic when a girl passes by. Here, Gaara, escort her home."

Gaara turned to stare at Temari to see if she was drunk too. When he saw the single glass of wine on her table, he sighed and stood up. "Alright. Let's go, then."

The two left, Nao calling out her thanks, and Kankuro and Temari waved after her, telling her to return soon. When the door slammed shut, Temari and Kankuro high-fived each other.

"Kankuro, you're getting better at this looking-drunk thing," Temari said admiringly.

Her brother laughed. "Experience, my dear sister. Experience."

Temari leaned back, satisfied, and took a sip of her wine glass. "Ah. Tonight went well."

"Mhm. Definitely. Operation Get-Gaara-To-Like-Nao is going as planned."

Smirks adorned the faces of the two Sabaku siblings. They raised their glasses and clinked them together, toasting not only their success, but the success of their little baby brother.


	7. Drama Over Ramen, Anyone?

A/N: Alright! Chapter seven! Only 90 more to go! Just kidding. I wouldn't torture you with 97 chapters, my dear readers. Fufufu that'd be fun though. Sorry for the slow update! These days, I'm so busy. -Sigh- well anyway. Enjoy!

Control

_**Chapter 7:**_

_**Drama Over Ramen, Anyone?**_

"_Why?" the faceless figure moaned. "Why didn't you help me? Why are you killing all these people?!" It let out a blood curling scream that pierced the night and sent tears cascading down Nao's cheeks. Blood spilled onto the floor as its head fell from its shoulders and rolled onto the floor._

"_I couldn't! I couldn't!" she screamed out. Then darkness encased her._

"AH!" Nao screamed as she woke up from her dream. Her breath was heavy and her sheets were sticking to her body, damp with sweat. She stared straight ahead, trying to mentally stable herself, then she took a death breath and settled back down. She rolled onto her side and took a look at the clock. 3:54 AM.

Sighing, Nao rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling. Yet another frightening nightmare. They just kept on coming and Nao couldn't do anything about them. It was getting ridiculous. Every night, they haunted her and plagued her mind until she awoke from her restless slumber. Every night, they chased her from sleep until the only thing she could do was get out of bed…and run.

Sliding her legs off the side of the bed, Nao closed her eyes. She hadn't trained in a while and her body was getting lazy. After the occurrence with those ten men, she hadn't even gone near a kunai. The only weapons she dared to touch were her swords, and even then, she was cautious. The memory of the death of those men flooded back to her, and she put her hands in her head, ashamed.

Ever since she had lost Tanzou, her ability to control herself had gotten worse. She was petulant, out of hand, and she couldn't do anything about it. Time was running out, and she hated herself for being so weak. She hated feeling so vulnerable and so frightened all the time, and each second, she knew her fear of herself only grew worse. She was sick and tired of feeling so…useless. Looking up, she stared at her swords, sitting forlorn in the corner of her room, like dolls forever shelved. Getting out of bed, she quietly walked across the cold wood floor and reached out to them.

The instant her fingers touched the one of the blades, it was like an electric shock had been sent through her. The blood-lust and power hunger that flowed through her swords was intense, like a gravitational force compelling her towards itself. She pulled away quickly, so as not to get caught up, and hurriedly ran to the closet. She threw on some running clothes, brushed her teeth, and was out the door before any more voices called out to her.

The dry Suna air greeted her. She pulled her ankle behind her, feeling the stretch in her muscles. It felt good, and she felt energized. The sandy village shone under the bright moonlight and as she ran onto the streets, she became one with the shadows.

As her feet crunched against the sandy streets, she felt herself relax, going back into her routine. Ever since she had gotten to Suna, she'd been running. What she was running from, she didn't know…the dreams? Tanzou? Or maybe herself. Whatever it was, she knew she would never be fast enough.

Her clouded thoughts cleared with each step she took, and as she passed the Kage tower, her thoughts drifted to a man with red hair and aquamarine eyes.

_Gaara_, she thought to herself. His name was familiar in her head; she thought about the Kazekage often. He was suspicious of her, she knew it. But he wasn't doing anything about it. If anything, he was even friendlier to her than before. Every now and then, she would bump into him on her breaks or in the mornings, and they'd have small conversations, much to the displeasure of his jealous fangirls.

He was a weird guy. At first, she had found him too quiet, too stoical and unemotional. But ever since the dinner about a week ago, he'd opened up a bit to her, especially when he had walked her home. She'd seen a humorous side of him, a side that admired not only his village, but also his family. As her thoughts continued to linger on the Kazekage, his eyes appeared in her head. Though she had gotten to know Gaara a bit better, those aquamarine eyes made her wary. For too long she had loved eyes like those…and look where that got her.

Nao slow to a slow jog as she passed more houses. Gaara was a good man, a good Kazekage. And Suna was a good place. But Nao knew she didn't belong in such a nice village…yet she really had no heart to leave.

Nao didn't know how long she ran, but when she saw the sun's rays hiding over the horizon, she knew it was time to head back. With her mind floating about, she sprinted back to her apartment before anyone could see her.

* * *

Later that day, Temari stopped by the paint shop after being out of Suna for about a week. She had traveled to Konoha for a mission and was glad to be home. She entered the shop and when Nao heard the bell over the door ring, she looked away from her easel.

"Hey! Welcome back, Temari. Lunchtime already?" she asked, looking around for the clock. Indeed, it was 1:15.

"Yup. And today, you're paying," the feisty blonde said.

Nao rolled her eyes and stood from her stool. She untied the messy apron from around her and walked to the sink to wash her hands. Ever since Nao had gotten the job, Kankuro and Temari constantly dropped by to have lunch with her. It had become sort of an unspoken routine, and she appreciated the company.

"Alright, ramen again?" she asked Temari. The blondie's humorous smile was her answer.

They walked out of the shop, Nao calling out to Dani that she was going to lunch, and headed to the ramen place. As they meandered through the streets, here and there, people would call out their hellos to Nao and Temari. Nao smiled. After a few weeks working in the paint shop, the village was starting to warm up to her. Yes, there were still those who were wary of her, but all in all, the villagers were more friendly and welcoming. Perhaps they were spurred on by their curiosity of the brown-haired stranger, but ever since she had started working at The Easel, business had started picking up.

Upon entering the familiar ramen shop, Nao and Temari waved to the owner and walked to a table. A waitress came by, took their order, then returned to bring water before walking away, leaving the girls to talk.

"So how was your mission?" Nao asked her, taking a sip of water that the waitress had brought.

"Pretty good, pretty good."

"What did you have to do, again?"

_Crap,_ Temari thought to herself. "Uh, just some routine checkups of the village, you know. Ambassador stuff." Truthfully, Gaara had sent Temari to Konoha to see if they had any information on the name 'Komara'. Nothing. Nao's so-called 'family' wasn't in any village records. Temari smiled at Nao, hoping that her lie was sufficient.

Apparently it was, for Nao just nodded her head and looked interested. "Did you see your 'boo'?" she asked with playfulness masking the usual luster of her brown eyes.

At Nao's question, Temari felt a blush in her cheeks. "Nao! I told you! T-There's nothing going on between me and Shikamaru!"

"Oh okay," the brunette commented, not believing it for a second.

"Really! He's a lazy ass who doesn't do anything but stare at clouds."

Nao laughed, placing her chin in her hand. "I wanna meet this Shikamaru guy. I think I'd like him."

Temari rolled her eyes. "I should have never told you about him. Never."

Again, Nao laughed that contagious laugh of hers, making Temari smile wryly. "So have you guys kissed yet?"

A bigger blush took over Temari's face as she reached out to smack Nao in the head. While the two were laughing, suddenly, a chesty blonde girl appeared beside their table.

"Temari," the girl said rudely in a high-pitched, nasally voice.

The two girls abruptly stopped laughing and looked up at the girl. Nao looked over at Temari, who was making an annoyed face.

"Hi…Coco," she said. From the corner of her eye, she looked over at Nao and gave her a gaze that said she would explain later.

"Where's Gaara been lately? I haven't seen or talked to him in a while."

"Uh…" Temari struggled for an excuse. "He's out of town."

The girl, Coco, made a face and said dumbly, "But he hasn't called me in three weeks."

Nao had to cough to cover up her oncoming laughter. Temari glared at her from the side.

"My brother's been busy."

Coco sighed and crossed her arms over her chest…which in itself is quite a feat. She made an angry expression and said, "Tell that man to see me when he gets home."

Temari smiled convincingly and said, "Will do." Then Coco left, strutting away like an angry kitty cat.

Unable to control herself any longer, Nao let out her pent up peals of laughter. "What was with Blonde-n-Busty?"

Mumbling angrily, Temari gulped down some water. "Freak, I'm gonna kill Gaara. I'm sick and tired of lying for him."

Nao looked at Temari humorously. "What? What was that all about?" she said through her chuckles.

Temari rolled her eyes, agitated. "Another one of Gaara's sorry girlfriends. Geez, you would think he'd learn to stop messing around like that."

The look of confusion on Nao's face egged Temari on for more. She sighed. "Gaara…he…let's just say that after he realized he could get any girl he wanted, he's been…pretty active playing the role of the good-looking Kazekage."

After blinking in realization, Nao snorted and mumbled, "Wow, Gaara…a playboy. Guess that fits."

Temari laughed. "Playboy, there we go. Good word…sorta. Yeah well, he wasn't always like that, though. Kankuro and I are hoping it's just a phase."

Nao speculatively raised an eyebrow and said with humor, "Phase. Uh huh."

Temari sighed, shaking her head. "As long as he's a good Kazekage, we stay out of his business."

Making a face, Nao said, "Well, you should talk to him if you think he's acting immature."

"Whatever. He's only 19. I did crazy stuff when I was 19."

"I'm the same age…and you don't see me philandering around."

"Nao, you're mature for your age. See, for Gaara, it's like this. Girl talks to Gaara. Gaara likes Girl. A couple weeks later, Gaara no like Girl no more."

"Gaara is playboy and why Temari talk like this?" Nao imitated crudely with a wry smile on her face.

Temari managed to laugh, then, her expression softened. "Sorry, I got caught up…Anyway, personally, I think he's just looking for the right girl, you know? 'The One.' It's just…no one seems to hold his interest."

Nodding in understanding, Nao picked up her glass and drank some water. She found herself pitying Gaara.

Temari looked at her, and Nao recognized a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "But you know, Nao…don't be disheartened. I mean, Gaara's still game. You can still grab him."

Nao's water sprayed out of her mouth. She coughed and dabbed at her mouth with a napkin.

"Uh," she said after she stopped coughing. "No, it's okay thanks."

Temari laughed outright while wiping the table with a napkin. "He's not that bad, Nao."

"I know, I know," Nao said while taking another sip from her drink. "Just…not my type."

Disbelievingly, Temari eyed Nao with joking suspicion. Then she remembered something Kankuro had told her and waggled her eyebrows. "Ah…you're already in a relationship?"

Something in Nao's face changed, suddenly alerting Temari that the conversation had steered somewhere it shouldn't have.

Nao tried to keep her voice the same, but it was hard. Every time Tanzou was brought up, her mood always turned sour. She quietly mumbled, trying to maintain her cheery composure, "Yeah, you could say that."

Against her better judgment, Temari urged for more. "What do you mean? Is it…like, a long distance relationship?"

Again, Nao hesitated, then said, "Kind of…" Right then, the food came. The waitress set down the steaming bowls of ramen, and as Nao tried to act distracted with breaking her chopsticks open, Temari observed her. Something was obviously wrong; Nao had suddenly thrown up a wall, a glass wall that, for weeks, Temari and Kankuro could obviously see through but couldn't shatter.

"Nao…" Temari mumbled.

Biting her lip, Nao chuckled uncomfortably and said, "Really, it…was nothing."

"Nao. It's obviously not 'nothing'."

Nao looked at Temari, smiling while unsure of whether or not to reveal Tanzou…but seeing Temari's kind eyes, she felt herself crumbling. Temari was trustworthy…and Nao needed to vent anyway. The burden of Tanzou weighed too heavy on her shoulders alone. Just like that, the wall shattered and Nao stepped out.

"Okay…well. There…was this guy. That I liked…a lot…" she started, twirling her noodles with the chopsticks in her hand. Temari nodded slowly, urging her to keep going while taking a bite.

"We were childhood friends, 'cause his mother was my…uh nanny, I guess you could say," Nao took a slurp of her soup, doubtful if she was saying the right thing. She took a deep breath and started again with a fond, reminiscent look in her eye. "I liked him for as long as I could remember, but he never noticed, that idiot." A regretful smile took over Nao's face as Temari managed to laugh at Nao's attempt at humor.

"Uh…anyway. Our first date was on my 17th birthday, and then after that, things went smoothly…until…something happened."

"…what…happened?" Temari asked cautiously, not knowing where the conversation was headed. She set down her chopsticks and looked hard at Nao.

Nao averted her gaze, looking down. "He…died," she said quietly and quickly to get it over with. She bit back the next part, not wanting to tell Temari the true cause of his death. "He died trying to protect me from a man." Nao looked down; that wasn't a complete lie, but it still hurt too much to think about it, even though he had died so long ago.

Instantaneously, regret filled Temari. She put her hands over Nao's and mumbled, "Oh gosh, Nao, I'm so sorry…I shouldn't have brought this up."

Sweetly and sadly, Nao smiled and practically whispered, "Hey, no big deal." Then she smiled for real, and just like she had done so many times before, she pushed it in the back of her mind and tried to think of something else.

"So…these noodles. They're great!" she said with a pathetic attempt at exuberance.

Temari smiled at her amiably and patted her hand. She shoved the chopsticks back in the bowl, devoured some noodles, then wiped her mouth with an unsatisfied expression. "I could make better. You know it."

And just like that, their train of conversation had crossed over that dark ridge and was back on track.

After lunch, Temari and Nao walked back to the paint shop with a new sense of friendship between them. Before leaving, Temari gave Nao a sincere hug, then when the shop door shut, she hung her head and sighed.

She sprinted back to the Kage tower and walked into her brother's office, feeling guilty, like she was betraying Nao…like she was nothing but Gaara's little spy, although technically, she was. As Gaara turned to face her, she took a deep breath, mentally prayed for Nao's forgiveness, and said, "So…I know who this Tanzou is now."


	8. Kazekage, At Your Service

**A/N: Hey there readers! I just want to thank those who have been reviewing so faithfully (T___T I love you guys) and I want to thank those who read this even though they don't review because that means either a) my story's decent enough they don't have anything to say b) my story is bad enough they don't have anything to say WHICH makes me work harder! SO! Thank you! –pinches cheeks- **

Control

_**Chapter 8:**_

_**Kazekage, At Your Service **_

"So…I know who this Tanzou is now."

Gaara turned his head away from his office window to face Temari. Standing with her arms crossed, she was waiting patiently for his reply.

"…Tanzou?" Gaara finally asked nonchalantly.

Temari sighed. "Yeah. Remember? Nao thought you were this guy named Tanzou when she woke up, and I just found out who that guy is."

"Oh. Him." Gaara turned his body fully towards Temari and leaned back, putting his hands together in his lap. "Okay. Explain."

"He was her ex-boyfriend," she said as she shifted her weight onto her right leg. The guilt was heavier on her shoulders now.

"Ex?" Gaara asked with no expression in his voice.

"He died."

Silence was his answer. Well, he wasn't expecting that. He didn't even have to bother asking how before Temari broke into an explanation.

"He died protecting her from someone. All she told me was that his mother was her nanny and they were childhood friends."

Gaara leaned forward and placed his elbows on his desk. Now this caught his interest. "Did she say who he was protecting her from?"

Temari shook her head, her golden ponytails swishing along.

Sighing, Gaara clasped his hands and put his chin on them. "Nao…seems to have a lot of interaction with death."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"The ten men, her ex-boyfriend…all dead."

"Oh…yeah. That's weird." Temari shifted her weight uncomfortably onto her left leg. "I never noticed…Maybe-"

"Also," Gaara continued with his speculations, completely disregarding Temari's words, "why are all these people attacking her?"

"I...don't know," Temari said, shrugging. She collapsed under the guilt of reporting this all to her little brother, so she said, "She must be pretty influential or important that all these people are trying to kill her."

"If she's so influential, why can't we find any files about her?" Gaara asked quietly.

Another shrug was Temari's response. "Maybe her family is hiding for safety purposes. Some famous people do that."

Gaara breathed in slowly, thinking about the situation. The brunette girl's face suddenly popped into his head, and he said slowly, "What's so special about her that she has to stay hidden?"

Temari leaned against the closed door and sighed. "I don't know…" Temari looked out the window and decided to change the topic. "What I really want to know is why she called _you_ Tanzou."

Gaara furrowed his brow. He wanted to figure out the same thing. His eyes fell onto the clock on his desk and he sighed. "Well, I have to get back to work. Update me if you find more."

With an understanding nod, Temari left the office without even waiting for a 'thank you'. As she shut the door, Gaara closed his eyes and massaged his head. Why did he even bother about this Nao girl? There were plenty of other things he needed to worry about. It was just…something about her seemed a little odd.

Rubbing his head, he tried to stop thinking about her to prevent the headache he knew would come afterward. Grabbing his pen, he leaned back over his work and started writing again.

* * *

_RING!_

After hearing the bell over the door ring constantly over the past month or so, Nao learned to not really bother looking up. If someone needed her services, they'd say something. She continued with her brush strokes, her eyes focused totally on the painting, when she felt that one familiar chakra emanating in the room. When a shadow came over her, her eyes slid off the easel and landed on those cyan blue eyes that, ever since her talk with Temari a couple hours ago, she had been thinking about all day.

"Gaara. Hi," she said, a little surprised. She hadn't seen him in a while, and besides, he never visited the paint shop alone.

"Oh. Nao. Hey," Gaara replied awkwardly. Great. The last person he wanted to run into…His eyes grazed over her profile as she went back to her painting, but he quickly turned away when he realized he was staring. He looked swiftly around the shop for Dani, and when he couldn't find the man, he asked Nao.

"Where's Dani?"

Absentmindedly, she said as she dipped her brush in another color, "He's at some art tour."

"When will he be back?" Gaara asked, slightly frowning.

Nao turned her head and looked at Gaara in a funny way. "…Next month."

Gaara blinked, and dumbly repeated. "Next month?"

Nodding, Nao crossed one leg over the other and rested her elbow on her top knee. She painted another brush stroke and said, "Yeah. He left yesterday. You didn't know that?"

She heard Gaara curse under his breath and she smiled. "Guess not. Did you need him for something important?"

"Kind of." Gaara sighed and put the papers he was holding on a table near him. Now, Nao was turned around on her stool, facing him. She stared at him for a bit then got up and walked over.

"What'd you need?" she asked. He could tell that Nao's line of vision was on the stack of papers he had just set down. She looked at him with a questioning gaze and he sighed again.

"Dani said he would paint something."

An amused smile was tugging at Nao's lips. "Man, you're specific."

Gaara's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "There's a banquet at Konoha. Dani was going to paint the gift I was planning on bringing."

"Oh," Nao commented, satisfied. Then her eyes lit up again. "Can I see the details?" She pointed lightly to the stack on the table.

Gaara nodded and watched as she rummaged through them. She examined the pages slowly, flipping through them one by one. After she had gone through the entire stack, she turned to him and said, "Hm…doesn't look too challenging. If you want, I could paint it for you."

He looked at her, speculative, hopeful. "You can?"

Nao smiled a sarcastic grin. "Well I _am_ a painter."

"Can you paint it by the end of this week?"

The smile on her face disappeared. "…The end of the week? …Are you serious?"

Gaara nodded his head grimly.

"That's crazy talk," she said surely. "I doubt that even Dani could paint this by the end of this week. I mean…if I had help, maybe I could get it done. But alone? That's only six days and this painting…this painting is something else."

She went back to flipping through the papers incredulously, her face contorting into different expressions of disbelief and confusion. Before Gaara knew it, he heard himself quietly say, "I could help."

His words surprised both of them. Nao asked him slowly, "You can paint?"

Gaara wanted to bang his head on the wall. No, he couldn't paint. Apparently he couldn't keep his mouth shut either. Clearing his throat, he mumbled, feeling like a complete idiot, "No."

Nao looked at him uncertainly. "Uh…Gaara. As kind as that is…I don't see how you could help on a painting…if you can't paint."

Gaara felt himself pressing the offer. When he thought about it, it was a good opportunity to keep a close watch on her. "I can help with the small things. Like cleaning the brushes…and…stuff."

He saw Nao stare at him, unsure if he was joking or not. Her stare made him feel naked, which was an odd sensation; usually he was the one giving that stare to women. Anyway, then she said slowly, "Uh…okay."

He had to admit, he was shocked she agreed. He nodded and said, "Okay."

"Okay." Now it was just awkward.

"Okay…" Not knowing what else to say, Gaara muttered, "So, I guess I'll just drop by tomorrow…around this time?"

"Sure," Nao said, relieved Gaara had said something. She fiddled with the papers in her hand and gave him an awkward smile.

"See you tomorrow then…" Then Gaara nodded and closed the door. As he walked away, he thought to himself sarcastically, _This should be interesting…

* * *

_

**A/N: Oh that was a short…awkward chapter…well the next chapter is longer, so yeah. Many thanks to ****have-a-cookie,****Gaaras1Girl,****dreaming ofmagic,**** and ****kim**** for being such faithful reviewers! And yeah. I always pictured Gaara as a playboy…I don't know why, but to me, that just fits him. Sorry if that took you all by surprise! **


	9. En Medio de La Noche

**A/N: ahem.**

**Nao: HOW DARE YOU. YOU HAVEN'T UPDATED IN LIKE. 5394151 YEARS. I WANT TO FREAKING PAINT WITH GAARA.**

**QR: I'M SORRY I'M SORRY. FORGIVE ME. PLEASE. Don't hurt me.**

**Nao: Um. Don't apologize to ME. Apologize to your READERS.**

**QR: …**

**So I'm terribly terribly sorry for the FREAKISHLY long delay in the update of my story. There were many contributing factors. One: my computer received a virus. All my documents, pictures, videos, files, EVERYTHING was gone because my dad had to do some…system retrieve or something or other. So yeah. My ideas for the story were deleted. But enough of that. ALSO. I was waiting for ONE MORE review before I could update. And I got it. My dear readers, you should all thank ****Rose1991**** for it was this review I was waiting for. (: hehe I tried to make this a lesson of a sort. "REVIEW and you get chapters!" But now I feel terribly mean ): so here you go. Enjoy this. I made it a tad longer to satiate your tastes. 3 **

Control

_**Chapter 9:**_

_**En Medio de La Noche**_

"What am I doing?" Gaara mumbled angrily to himself as he stood outside the door of the paint shop the next day. He'd been standing there for a good five minutes, constantly trying to decide whether or not he should go in. It was already dark, and he knew that Nao would be expecting him.

Putting his hand on his face, he felt like squeezing his brain out. Honestly, Gaara had no clue why the heck he even told her he would help.

_You're an idiot, _he thought to himself. Finally, taking a deep breath, he walked inside the shop. He didn't know why, but the idea of being alone with Nao made him feel funny. Not a good funny. A bad funny…the kind of funny that one feels right before something bad happens. As the door rang above his head, he looked for Nao and spotted her in the corner of the shop. Just like yesterday, she was sitting sideways on the stool, her hair in a bun, and her eyes concentrated.

When she heard the door open, she turned away from her work and smiled at Gaara.

"Hey," she said quietly. Then she went back to her painting. Just like that. No 'ready to work' or anything. Guess she wasn't expecting him after all.

Gaara nodded his head as a hello. He stood there, and when Nao didn't do anything else, he wondered if she remembered why he was here.

After a few awkwardly quiet minutes, Nao put her brush down and stood up. "Alright, sorry. I just had to finish that. The customer who it's for is extremely pushy, so yeah. Anyway, you ready to start?"

Startled by her sudden speech, he nodded a little too quickly and followed her into another room of the shop. It was a small, cramped room, but kind of homey. Tables lined the right wall, while empty canvases liked the left. Facing the door was huge canvas, about seven feet long and five feet wide. It was propped up on a table; Gaara surmised that it was too heavy for any easel to hold. In front of it were two stools and as Nao sat one of them, she patted the other to signal Gaara to sit.

Taking his seat, Gaara watched as she opened a table drawer and pulled out the papers he had brought yesterday.

"Okay, I've looked over this, and I'm pretty sure if we work on it for about…eh…an hour or two every day, I could get it done the night before you're set to leave so that it'll be dry the next day. And don't ask me how I got a canvas this big in such a short amount of time. Trust me; you don't wanna know the sorts of things Dani keeps in this shop."

She turned to Gaara with bright eyes, and all he could do was reply with another nod.

"Responsive, aren't you?"

Gaara rolled his eyes as an answer.

Nao, completely unphased by his stoic demeanor just laughed. "Alright then. I can tell we'll get this done quickly. Could you get me a cup of water, please?"

"Sure."

"The statue speaks!" the brunette woman gasped in mock surprise. Gaara glared at her as she smiled a devilish grin, but a part of him almost wanted to roll his eyes and play along. What the heck was with this woman?

Gaara walked to the sink and grabbed a cup, filling it about three-fourths of the way. He walked back to the easel where Nao had laid out an array of brushes and tubes of paint neatly and orderly. He set the cup down beside her and watched as she gently squeezed some paint out of the tubes. He capped the paint tubes after she was done, a trivial task, and just like that, they plunged headfirst into their painter-and-assistant relationship.

As Gaara worked with her through the hour, he realized that he really didn't have much to do and that painting had to be the most boring occupation ever. He didn't know how Nao had the patience to just sit for hours on end, putting a stick with hairs against a piece of canvas. He got bored just looking at her do the job, and the only excitable moments were she occasionally asked him to hand her more paint, get more water, give her this or that. It was a relatively easy job, but he was guessing she needed more; she was just too polite to ask him.

As he sat by her, watching her paint, he was fascinated. She had delicate, skinny hands, but they were not frail, for her hand movements were sure and concise yet gentle. She was confident in her work, and all in all, he had been surprised. The situation wasn't as awkward as he had guessed.

The hour progressed, and as they made some conversation, well as Nao made conversation, Gaara realized Nao was one of the few women he could easily get along with. She made jokes here and there, but she wasn't annoying like all the rest; she accepted the quiet. It was rare for Gaara to meet a woman who was so comfortable with silence.

After about the first hour, he found himself speaking more.

"So when did you learn to paint?" he asked, breaking an amiable silence.

Nao wanted to jump at the sound of his voice. "Wow, you can form a full sentence," she said with a satirical smile on her face.

Gaara rolled his eyes; he just recently noticed that he did that a lot when it came to this woman.

He watched as Nao turned to dip her brush in the same color. "My parents wanted me to paint when I was younger, and my nannies were huge on the whole 'be-a-proper-lady' thing. So I took painting classes, dance classes, flower-arranging. All sorts of things. If it was proper, I knew how to do it. Manners were of utmost importance."

"Sounds boring."

"Oh it was. But I guess it was worth it, hm?" She turned to smile at Gaara who was staring intensely at her.

"So what about you?" Nao asked, breaking their eye contact and turning back to the painting. "What's your childhood story?"

"My mother died. My father was an ass. The end," Gaara said in a low tone. Nao looked at him with an eyebrow raised; then she smiled one of those half smiles.

"You're quite the story teller."

"Thank you for the sincere compliment."

Gaara watched as his statement pulled a full smile on Nao's lips; he felt good when she smiled at something he said, and he didn't like the fact that he did. Nao suddenly bit her lip, a habit he noticed she did a lot, and even though he had only worked with her for a little while, he could tell that it was the face she made when she needed utmost concentration.

Stopping the conversation, Gaara examined Nao paint broad strokes with a think brush. After she was done, she pulled away and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Alright," she said. "I think we're done for the day. Could you help me carry the stuff over to the sink?" Nao stood and picked up her palettes and brushes, walking over to the sink. Gaara followed suit and placed in the other palettes and plates. He watched as Nao's delicate hands picked up the sponge; the picture looked wrong. Her soft fingers didn't belong around the rough texture of a sponge.

"Here, I'll wash them," he said as his large hands encased hers and took sponge from her. He scooted over and took her place in front of the tap.

"T-thank you," Nao said genuinely, a little shaken from the polite contact. Unsure of what to do, she decided to stand by him and started drying the clean brushes he gave her.

After they had finished washing in silence, she asked, "So, what do you think so far, Gaara?"

Gaara turned around and stared at the painting. It wasn't much yet, just the basic outlines done, layers placed down, a couple of minor details here and there. But Gaara could tell it would be something great.

"It looks like it's going somewhere," he mumbled.

Nao smiled. "Well…that's good. In a couple of days, we'll be done. Who knows. Maybe I'll even let you paint something."

He stared at her with a dim look on his face.

"Ahem, that was something called a joke. This is the part where you laugh." She smiled warmly at him.

Gaara shook his head in exasperation, then dried off his hands and opened the room door. Nao followed him out and walked him to the paint shop entrance. As she put her hand on the door, she smiled and said, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?"

Replying with a nod, Gaara walked out, and when Nao closed the door behind her, she let out a huge sigh.

"That man doesn't just look like a panda. He's quieter than one," she whispered to herself. She had to admit, he was different from what she expected. He wasn't all serious; he had his funny moments, when he tossed out comments that made her smile. Much to her own surprise, she was extremely comfortable around him, but she felt awkward under the tension of his intense gaze; it was creepy how similar he looked to Tanzou.

As Nao walked around the shop, locking things and putting things away, she remembered the way he had taken the sponge from her, which she still didn't understand. But in any case, even underwater, she could tell his hands were callused, but they were huge compared to her tiny hands.

Realizing she was dwelling too much upon that one moment, she shook her head, like she was trying to shake the idea out of her head. She grabbed her things, turned off the lights, and locked the shop door behind her, mumbling to herself, "This week should be interesting."

* * *

When Gaara returned the next day, they immediately got to work. From the day before, he knew what most of the art tools were, so when Nao asked for something, she didn't have to stop and point out what it was. Things went a lot smoother; they easily fell into routine and they worked well in sync with each other. The conversation was a lot friendlier, too; they rallied jokes and sarcastic comments like they had been friends for months. Nao loosened up around him, and he around her. The hours passed by quickly, and before he knew it, it was time to leave.

After the second day, Gaara found himself actually having a good time. Around Nao, words practically flowed out of his mouth, and, whether he wanted to or not, they had become more than just acquaintances. They were actually…friends. In his office, the clock moved too slowly, and when he was with her, time seemed to speed up.

There was just something about her. The way she joked, the way she could make him smile, even against his will. Sure, she had her annoying moments, like if a customer gave her a hard time and she acted like a total bitch. But eventually, he got used to those tweak-y characteristics. She was kind of like Naruto…kind of. It was almost impossible for him to remember the fact that he knew absolutely nothing about her and really needed to be suspicious. He was so comfortable around her; now he knew how his siblings felt about her.

On his fourth day there, when they were talking about the difference between men and women, Nao said humorously, "Yeah right. Just 'cause guys can pee standing up doesn't mean they're superior over women. Girls can pee standing; it ain't that hard."

"I'd like to see you try," Gaara quietly said, amused.

"Oh gross, Gaara," she replied, laughing. Smiling, she went back to concentrating on the painting, and as she worked, she saw from the corner of her eye that Gaara's piercing blue eyes watching her. Nao had gotten used to the way his eyes examined her, and she had the feeling that it was what he did to everyone.

She dipped her paint brush in a light azure, and as she did, she said to him, "So you ready to try your hand at painting, Kazekage-sama?"

Gaara just stared at her. Then after a few seconds, he mumbled, "What?"

"You heard me," she replied with a smug grin on her face.

"I thought you said you were joking about that." Gaara officially thought she was a nut job.

"Well, guess I wasn't."

"No way," he said, firmly shaking his head. "I can't paint to save my life."

Nao laughed. "Don't worry. You're just filling in the background color. Nothing too extensive. Here." She shoved the brush into his hand forcefully. Against his will, Nao pulled him up from the stool so that he was standing about two feet from the canvas. Gaara gingerly held the brush in his hand like it was explosive.

"Okay! Now! Put the brush on the canvas and start painting," Nao said enthusiastically.

Gaara glared at her skeptically and uncomfortably. When she wouldn't back down, he awkwardly placed the brush against the canvas and applied pressure.

After a few silent seconds of Gaara just randomly stabbing at the painting, Nao sighed sympathetically.

"Gaara, don't peck at it like you're poking a dead animal or something. Here, I'll show you."

Relieved, Gaara turned to hand the brush over to Nao, but instead, she just placed her hand over his and held it up. Stunned, he watched as she guided his hand to the canvas and smiled.

"See? Like this. Gently, using pressure, but not too much…"

She started saying more, but he didn't hear it. He was, for some reason, mesmerized with the fact that her hand was on his. Geez, her hand was so small compared to his hands, and they were so smooth...so soft.

Before he knew it, the hand that he was examining left his. He turned to her right as she said, "Got it?"

Nodding numbly, Gaara handed the brush to her. "I think you should do the rest, thanks."

That managed to pull a smile from her lips, and Nao resumed her position in front of the canvas. As she worked, Gaara stared off somewhere, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. Why had he felt so weird when she touched him? It wasn't like he hadn't touch a girl's hand before. And why was he acting so dumb? He didn't get a chance to answer himself because Nao started saying something.

"Oh hey, Gaara. I just recalled something I was supposed to tell you earlier."

"Hm?" He snapped out of his little internal conversation and turned to face her.

"Do you know a girl named Ume?" she asked, still facing the painting.

Gaara narrowed his gaze questioningly. "…Yeah. Why?"

Nao shrugged nonchalantly as she cleaned off her brush. "Oh, she's just been stopping by in the mornings, asking me where you are. Asked if we were dating."

Gaara frowned, taken aback. Ume had been someone he had… 'dated' before, and she was definitely not the nice type. If she had thought he was dating Nao, Ume probably had acted tenacious…and why would she even think that? More importantly, why hadn't he heard about this before?

"I'm sorry. I'll tell her to stop," Gaara said, bothered.

Turning to smile at him, Nao said, "Don't worry about it. I told her that we weren't dating and that if you wanted to see her, you would have already done so, just like I told all the rest." She revolved back around to the painting as Gaara continued to stare at her questioningly.

"…the rest?" he asked slowly, wary of what would come next.

Nao nodded coolly as she layered on another color.

"…as in, there were other girls that confronted you?"

Again, there was that casual nod. Gaara suddenly felt angry. He knew how vicious girls could be, especially the ones he had dated in the past. If they had seen a girl, especially a girl like _Nao_, with Gaara, they would attack her viciously.

"Did they do anything to you?" he muttered so low it was almost a growl.

Nao's hand stopped in mid-air on the way to the canvas, and she twisted her head to face Gaara. She stared at him for a second, confused, then a small smile of realization spread across her face.

"You think _they_ are capable of hurting me?" she said incredulously. She raised her eyebrows and watched as the frustration in Gaara's eyes started to dim.

"...if they wanted to?" Gaara mumbled. He watched as Nao snorted and shook her head, finishing her brush stroke.

"Oh please, Gaara," she said, "They couldn't hurt me if I had cut off both my arms and legs."

"Still."

Nao smiled gently while still painting. "Don't worry about it, Gaara. Honestly. This isn't something you should be worked up about." She stuck out her other hand and said, "Hand me that medium sized fan brush, would you?"

Gaara quickly picked up the brush she intended and placed it in her outstretched palm. As she continued working, Gaara questioned himself. Really…why _had_ he gotten so worked up when he heard that the girls had confronted Nao? He remained confused as Nao spoke again.

"Man, Gaara, I don't know what you do to these girls, but they sure as heck seem to like you a lot. Honestly, I don't understand what they see in you."

He looked at her, and in seeing that wry smile of hers, he rolled his eyes, knowing she was joking. "Whatever." Sighing, he continued, mumbling slowly. "I just…get myself too much into things I know is shouldn't get into. And it just so happens that those things I get into involves girls that want to get into it too, and they drag me along afterwards even though that's not always what I don't want to do."

Nao stopped and furrowed her eyebrows. Then she said bluntly, "Yeah…that made no sense whatsoever, but it sounded uncomfortably sexual."

Gaara resisted the urge the smirk. "I just happen to like girls that like me too much."

"And by the looks of it, you happen to like lots of girls." Nao attempted to keep her tone light and joking, but there was some reasoning behind her words; she really didn't like philanthropists.

"Why does it matter how many girls I've dated?" Gaara asked.

"Because." Nao set down her palette and looked at him for a few seconds, like she was trying to look into his head. She stared, like a mother worried for her child, and said, "Okay, let me explain using a metaphor. Say your heart is like…a rose."

Gaara's expression dulled. "…A rose."

"Yes. A rose. Okay, now say, for each girl you've dated, you give away a petal."

"Okay…? Nao, where are you going with this?"

"Just listen. Okay, then let's say you get married. By the time you're wedded, all you'll have left of your rose heart is just that flower stem…You won't have any more love petals to give to your wife because you've wasted all your petals on slutty whores." Nao picked up her brush again and started layering light strokes on the canvas while Gaara just stared at her.

"Why can't I just get another rose?" he asked with a blunt tone.

Nao shook her head at him. "Nope. It doesn't work like that. You can't just get another rose."

"Why not?"

"Because. It's against the rules." She faced him and pointed her brush in his face, emphasizing her words.

Gaara raised his 'eyebrows'. "What rules?"

"The rules!" Nao cried out as she practically stabbed her brush onto the canvas.

"Why won't the rules let me buy another rose?"

"Because that's not how your rose heart works. Roses aren't easy to come by!"

"Um, yes they are. The roses we sell in Suna are not only abundant, but they're cheap," Gaara said, actually smirking. He liked teasing her like this.

"Ah!" Nao cried out, frustrated. "Never mind. Be a loveless man for all I care. But, when you're old and all alone, don't come crying to me."

"Oh-kay," Gaara said, emphasizing each syllable. He watched as Nao picked up the brushes and placed them in the sink. Walking over, he routinely grabbed the sponge and started scrubbing the paint-stained cups. As he scrubbed, he thought about what Nao had said. Strangely enough, ever since she had come to Suna, he hadn't really been paying much attention to other women, like he had done before. Now, every time a girl said hello to him, all he saw were…traits of Nao in them: one girl had her eyes, another her laugh, another had that had her lips. It was a curious sensation…and he didn't like it.

"I'm sure you've given away some of your petals," he said with a light humor. But, when he turned his head to look at Nao, she seemed different. She looked tenser.

He was about to ask if he had offended her when she smiled and looked at him. Her eyes looked a bit dimmer as she said, "Just one."

Even though she didn't know, Gaara immediately understood. It was that Tanzou. Not wanting to push the subject any farther, he turned off the sink and placed the cups on a towel to dry. The mood was a bit darker now. _Way to go, Gaara_,he thought to himself. _You really are the life of the party._

"Alright, well, I'll see you tomorrow."

He reluctantly walked out of the room and was standing at the door, poised to leave, when Nao shouted out from the back room.

"Gaara?" She walked out, drying her hands on a towel. A smile was back on her face, so Gaara assumed she was back to normal.

"Hm?"

"Uh…I know this might seem a little…weird. But you wanna have dinner with me?"

Gaara blinked, surprised by the random request. "What?"

"Dinner? You know? It's a meal."

"No, I know what dinner is. You want to have dinner with me? Why?"

"Friends can have dinner together? Is that wrong?"

_Friends._ Gaara backtracked. "Right now? It's…11 o'clock."

"I know," Nao sighed dejectedly. "But I was too busy to eat before because I was working on a painting that someone needed to pick up today. So I skipped dinner and I was going to go get some food real quick, but…I don't wanna look like a loser who eats by herself."

Staring at her, Gaara hesitated. But as he stared at her apologetic smile, he sighed. "Oh…kay."

"Great," she said with a smile as she quickly tossed the towel she was holding onto a table. She followed him out the door, turning the lights off on the way out.

He let her push him out the door, listening her to grumble about how she was starving, and off they walked, in pursuit of a restaurant open to them in the middle of the night.

* * *

**Hooo boy, that was a weird ending! Anyways, I'm going to try and update chapters more often now seeing as it's been two months…heh. Did you guys like the rose metaphor? I googled the title of the chapter because I have no clue how to speak Spanish; it means "in the middle of the night"…I hope. (: If you guys have any cool ideas for scenes between Gaara and Nao, feel free to tell me! ^^ i promise I won't shoot them down immediately! Thanks for reading! Review please(:**


	10. Katsudon

**A/N: Oh man. This chapter's so fluffy, it could stuff a pillow. OH well. I like fluff. (: Oh yes, also, some of you guys have been a little…uncomfortable (that's not a good word for it…) with the fact that Gaara is a playboy and you've been offering ideas to try and compensate for his philanthropist ways. Thank you for those comments, but my friends, don't fret. From the very beginning, I had a plan. So continue reading on, and things will fall into place(: review please.**

Control

_**Chapter 10:**_

_**Katsudon**_

"Okay, what about the ramen shop?" Nao's voice penetrated the night.

"No."

"How about that restaurant that serves fried rice?" she tried again.

"No," he said again.

Nao groaned out loud. They had been walking around for a good half hour, covering and passing all the available open food shops. As they passed each store, the smells lingered in the air and filled Nao's nose, making her hungrier with each second that passed.

"Gaara, I'm starving. Come on, pick a place," she pleaded with him. "I should have never let you choose the restaurant."

With a roll of his eyes, Gaara continued walking. In truth, he didn't want to go into a restaurant where people might see them. Rumors were a vicious thing and if the Kazekage and the mysterious newcomer were to walk into a restaurant at 11 o'clock…they'd be the talk of the town.

So now, thanks to his self-righteous duty, they were traipsing across Suna. The night was a calm one, the stars hanging like diamonds on a black blanket. It was quiet, but then a loud grumbling noise pierced the air.

"Gaara. If you don't choose a restaurant in 50 seconds, my stomach will personally leap out of my body and strangle you. So I suggest you hurry."

Gaara looked at Nao dully, poised to make a smart-alec comment; then he remembered something. "Come on," he said. "I've chosen a place."

Eagerly, Nao followed Gaara dutifully as they walked past the rest of the local shops and away from any remotely urbanized location. As they traveled farther away from the lights and sounds of the evening, Nao started to wonder where they were really going.

After a while, they reached a small, dimly lit shop, or rather, a shack, in a dark street. It was shabby looking and run down, but Nao's ears could not deceive her. The sounds of a bustling kitchen could be heard from the few windows there were, and the smell of delicious food permeated through the half open front door.

"Come on," Gaara said as he pushed open the 'restaurant' door. As they walked in, Nao saw that the exterior of the shop definitely did not do the interior justice. It was a simple, square room, about three-fourths the size of the paint shop, but the ambiance of the shop was warm, cozy, homey. Nao felt like she was walking into a café or a bookstore, almost. Dim lanterns hung from the ceiling, casting a lackluster luminescence upon the tables. Quiet conversation was exchanged between numerous customers there, and the shop was alive with a collective mumble of relaxation and enjoyment.

"Wow, Gaara, what is this place?" Nao asked in awe.

In response, Gaara simply smirked and walked them to a small two-seater table by the corner of the shop. Just as they sat down, an old man arrived at their table.

"Kazekage-sama. Welcome back," he said amiably.

"Ryouta," Gaara nodded with respect.

The old man smiled at Gaara, then turned to Nao. "Ah, you've brought a friend. I've never seen you before, dear. What is your name?"

Nao politely replied, "Nao Komara. It's a pleasure."

Ryouta beamed to reveal the whitest teeth Nao had ever seen in her life. "Well, welcome, Nao. Since you are the lady, I shall ask you first. What would you like to drink, to satisfy your palette, to quench your thirst?"

An entertained smile burst upon Nao's lips. "Just water for me, please."

"Ah, plain and simple. I see, I see," Ryouta commented sagely. "And your usual hot tea, Kazekage-sama?"

"Yes, thank you," Gaara replied quietly. With that, the friendly old man walked away and through a swinging door at the back of the restaurant.

"Well," Nao said, amused. "That man is quite the charmer."

Gaara rolled his eyes, but there was a fondness about his demeanor.

"He's a good friend of mine. I met him a few years ago at this shop," Gaara said.

Leaning forward against the table, Nao crossed her arms and rested herself laxly upon them. "How did you even find this place? It's extremely out-of-the-way."

"I was just wandering around. It dawned on me that I didn't even know everything about my village there was to know," Gaara said.

Before Nao could respond, Ryouta brought the drinks and set them down on the table. "Alright, my friends. Now, for the food. What shall I conjure up for you?"

Not even realizing before hand that she had never even saw a menu, Nao mumbled, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't receive any menus."

Ryouta feigned shock and dishonor. "Kazekage-sama! You never told her? Oh no, you bring this restaurant much shame."

Gaara played along sarcastically. "What a crime I have committed." Then he turned to Nao. "There are no menus. Whatever you feel like having, just order it. Here, they can make anything."

Skeptically, Nao raised an eyebrow. "…Anything? Anything I can think of?"

Both men nodded at her, fully confident.

Nao hesitated. "Um, okay…then how about…katsudon?"

With a proudly inflated chest, Ryouta boasted, "Pah, a simple dish to make. Kazekage-sama?"

"I'll have the same thing as her."

Ryouta bowed extravagantly and turned on his heels to, once again, walk through the swinging door and into the kitchen. Once he had left, Gaara turned his eyes back to Nao as she started to speak.

"So, as you were saying?"

"Hm?" Gaara inquired. "What was I saying?"

"How you found this shop?"

"Oh," he answered. "Right. Like I said, I was just walking around when I smelled something really good. So I followed it and I found this place. Not much of a story."

Nao smiled mischievously. "Well, you're not much of a storyteller anyway."

Gaara narrowed his gaze arrogantly. "I can tell stories."

Scoffing, Nao took a sip of her water and this time, she was the one to roll her eyes.

"I can."

"Okay then," Nao said, putting her glass down. "Tell me a story."

Gaara just stared at her. She was smiling one of her half grins, so Gaara decided to satisfy her.

"Okay. There once was this woman. She was obnoxious, annoying, and easily angered—" Gaara started.

"But," Nao intervened, playing along after she had realized who he was talking about, "she was oh so very beautiful. Smart. Elegant. Intelligent! A warrior for womankind and—"

"Like I said," Gaara noted with a smirk, "obnoxious."

Nao feigned offense, but she chuckled and let him continue.

"One day, the girl met this Kazekage. He was attractive and powerful. He didn't like her at first. Not at all."

Not liking where the story was going, Nao quickly interjected. "Why not? She's rather charismatic."

Rolling his eyes, Gaara mumbled, "Weren't you listening? Annoying. Temperamental. Petulant."

In a mocking way, Nao took another swig of her water while narrowing her eyes at Gaara as he kept going.

"But then, as time went on and they began spending time with her," he continued while putting his hands on his cup, watching the steam rise from its surface, "he realized that no matter how terribly dull she seemed—"

At that, Nao made an awkward, mocking face that made Gaara shake his head, as if he were chuckling.

"—they had become friends," he concluded. "The end."

Nao slowly smiled fondly, tilting her head to the side like she always did. "Well, that was quite an interesting story, Kazekage-sama."

"I told you," Gaara said as he took a sip of his drink, careful not to burn himself with its scorching contents. He looked up at Nao as he drank.

"I must admit that though it was enticing, it could use a bit of editing," she said, that small smile still on her face.

Gaara just responded by rolling his eyes, because by then, their food had come out.

"Enjoy, my friends!" Ryouta exclaimed in a flourished voice. They thanked him enthusiastically and dug in.

After her first bite, Nao blinked and whispered in an awestruck voice, "Why is all the food in Suna so good?"

Gaara lightly snorted while still eating. "Maybe your food back in the Mist was bad."

"The Mist?" Nao asked, confused. Gaara just looked at her, his brow furrowed.

Realizing what a stupid mistake she had made, Nao remembered that Gaara didn't really know where she was from. So in an attempt to cover up, she repeated with a different emphasis, "The Mist? Seriously? The Mist. Gaara. Man, have you never been there? The food is amazing."

He just stared at her with skepticism. Then, so as not to alarm her, he nodded. "I've been there once or twice. The food here is better."

Nao nodded in agreement as she took another bite. "Mhm. I agree. Ah, if I keep on eating all this yummy Suna food, I swear. I'm going to have to go running every second of every day to stay healthy."

This caught Gaara's attention. "You run?" He had never seen her.

Due to a mouthful of rice and pork, Nao simply nodded while covering her mouth as she chewed. "Mhm," she said after she had swallowed. Then quickly, she added, "That's about the only thing I can do, though. It's quite sad."

Gaara felt one corner of his mouth pull up. "I'm sure it's not the only thing."

"No, no, I am terrible. I can't throw kunai or even a ball. I can't catch and I can jump only about five inches off the ground. It's horrible. I'm useless," she said dejectedly as she ate some more food from her bowl.

"What about those swords you have? The ones you brought in with you?" Ravenous, he had quickly devoured his food and was just drinking his tea, watching her speak with enthusiasm.

Something about her softened. Maybe it was her eyes, those windows to her thoughts, or just her posture in general, but there was an affectionate kind of look about her.

"They were my father's Kokurai Swords. I couldn't bear to give them away. They were his most important collectibles. Unfortunately, that's all they will ever stay. Collectibles." A rueful smile replaced her gentle one. "I really suck with handling swords."

Gaara remembered Kankuro saying something about that before, but he had never mentioned the name Koukurai. Where had Gaara heard that before?

Deep in his thoughts, Gaara remained quiet as they settled into a comfortable silence for a while as Nao continued to eat. As she ate, Gaara quietly glanced at her over the edge of his cup. She had such odd expressions on her face. They seemed to be ever-changing, and they amused him. Her eyes danced whenever she seemed to taste something new or delicious, and Gaara thought to himself that she was a very expressive person. So expressive that when they had been talking about the Mist, he had seen alarm in her eyes. She wasn't very good at hiding all of her emotions, and it was obvious she was honestly confused about the Mist. Gaara sighed as he took another sip of his drink. He had such an uneasy feeling about her, so many questions he wanted answers to. Why didn't he just throw her out of the village? Even worse, why was he eating dinner with her? As he finished his drink, he sat quietly and watched as Nao finished her food too.

"All done?" he asked to be sure. With her confirmation, he stood up and pulled some money out of his wallet.

"Oh, no, it's okay Gaara. I can pay for my share," Nao hurriedly said before he placed the money on the table.

Gaara looked at her, then bluntly stated, "The guy always pays."

"Um. What about female individuality?" Nao refuted, already holding out her wallet.

Gaara rolled his eyes and firmly set the money down on the table against Nao's protests. Then, waving goodbye to Ryouta, he stepped out of the restaurant into the night air. The moon was bright; it always was in Suna. Its beams rained down upon them as they walked quietly, side by side, through the still streets. It felt nice, not saying anything, not disturbing the treasured silence.

When they reached Nao's apartment and she got out her key, she stepped in and said, "Thank you, Gaara. It was nice having dinner with you." She smiled and inclined her head in a polite manner.

He nodded. "Have a good night."

Then, Nao surprised him by giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. Really, it was nothing. Many of his colleagues had done that, as a sign of respect or thanks. But coming for Nao, he felt warm where her lips had landed. Unsure of what else to say, Gaara just bowed his head and walked away.

Nao smiled, not at all bothered by the sign of affection she had just shown. As she closed the door and turned to face her empty, peaceful apartment, she sighed. How she had missed the feeling of coming home, not to someone but just to something. She ran her hands along the counter tops of the kitchen as she made her way into the quaint bedroom. As she stepped into the bathroom and stripped off her clothes to shower, she thought that she definitely wouldn't mind more nights like this.

* * *

The dignified Kazekage was working late. Again. At least that's what all of his shinobi thought as Gaara strode into his office at the Kage tower. After walking with Nao to her apartment, he had immediately switched directions and gone to his office. There was something he needed to check.

As he shuffled through papers in his file cabinet, he replayed the night in his head. Absently noting that he talked a lot, Gaara suddenly felt…embarrassed. Ridiculous, almost. Only when he was with Nao did he even express some sense of mild emotion. Reaching up to touch the spot on his cheek where she had kissed him, he struggled to keep his concentration upon his work. He was beginning to question his dignity around that girl.

Finally, he found the file he was looking for. He placed it on his desk, opened it, and scanned its contents, stopping when he found the word 'Kokurai'.

_Kokurai: meaning Black Lightning. The legendary Ami Hiwaka, slayer of the Tobiwa Village, possessed these as her weapons of choice. Since then, the Kokurai swords have been moved around in the famous 'assassin' clan of Ami Hiwaka, passed on from generation to generation. They are twin blades, each with the ability to store chakra in case of emergency. There are only two originals, but many copies have been made over the years. The originals' location is unknown._

"That's it?" Gaara demanded quietly, flipping over the page to see if there was any more information. There wasn't. Disappointed, he put the paper on his desk and walked to the couch by the window. Plopping down upon the cushions, he narrowed his eyes in concentration. Did Nao own the copies of the swords? Or were the ones she was carrying…the actual pair? If they were…No, he didn't want to assume that. But the words _assassin clan_ seemed to burn a hole in his mind.

Worrying, Gaara almost walked out the door to get Temari, but he stopped himself. No matter how unsure he was about Nao, he didn't know for a fact that she had the originals. And no matter how much he hated to admit it to himself, he didn't really care at this point. Despite everything, she had managed to build up a little trust within him, and so far she had done nothing to betray that.

Leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, Gaara let himself just calm down. He'd let himself see over time exactly who this woman is, and if she was a threat…well, bye-bye, Nao. Gaara winced. Just the thought of Nao leaving made a part of him…ache, like someone had punched him in the chest.

He rubbed his temples with constant pressure. Just the thought of her gave him headaches. Closing his eyes, he tried to sort out his thoughts, his lingering questions, but with each breath he took, all his mind could focus on were those two bowls of katsudon and what pleasant connotations they held for him.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Reviews are nice…ahem. AHEM. **


	11. Bottle It Up

**A/N: Hello readers. Sorry this is so late. Enjoy (: **

Control

_**Chapter 11:**_

_**Bottle It Up**_

Nao prided herself on her time management. She thought that she handled things pretty well, got things done in time, but as she sat in the shop, desperately painting, she mentally slapped herself.

"Crap," she whispered, so quiet that it was almost in audible.

"What's wrong?" Gaara said, suddenly beside her. She hadn't even heard him enter the shop. But she was used to it. Oh, the irony. She never thought she'd 'get used' to Gaara…ever.

"It's 10:15. You're an hour and thirty minutes late," she said sternly. Then, turning to face him, she exasperatedly mumbled, "I don't think I can get this done in time." She winced, preparing herself for the verbal blow that would possibly come. But none came. Not even a sarcastic comment.

She looked at Gaara and saw him with a kind of half-smirk on his face. "Then it's good that the banquet's been pushed back a day."

Nao made a curious face. "Really? Why?"

"Some problems with the Mizukage not being able to get there in time," Gaara said nonchalantly as he took his usual seat beside her.

"Huh." Nao said quietly. Then she smiled. "Thank you, fate. One day will be good enough to finish this up…I think. If I work on it a tad bit faster, maybe I'll get it done."

Gaara turned to face her. "Well then you better get painting."

"I'd paint faster if you get me some waterrrr," Nao said in a sing song-y voice.

Simply rolling his eyes, Gaara obliged with her wishes and walked over to the sink. As he filled up a cup, he said, "I was late because I had a meeting with the Suna elders."

"Mhm," Nao said, not really paying attention. She had already switched back into her autopilot concentration mode. Gaara set the cup down on a nearby table and sat down beside her.

"The meeting's still going. We're taking a break. I just stopped by to tell you that the banquet has been delayed." He watched as his words sunk in.

Nao stopped painting and said, "Oh, okie dokey. Have fun." Then she smiled and went back to the art. Gaara stood to leave, but suddenly Nao cried out.

"Oh! Wait!" She put her brush down and leapt up from her seat. Gaara stood still, looking at her with alarm and confusion.

"Before I forget. Stay right here!" Nao cried as she rushed out of the room. Still unsure of what was going on, Gaara waited patiently as he heard Nao rustling about in the other room. When she returned, she was holding something behind her back.

"What are you holding?" Gaara inquired, not really sure he wanted to know. He tilted his body to try and look around her, but she just held it closer against her back.

Nao smiled a rueful grin. "This morning, I passed this nice woman who sold these really beautiful clay charms. So I got you one."

"A…charm?" Gaara asked with uncertainty. And…she had gotten something…for him?

Extravagantly, Nao opened her hand and announced, "Ta-da!"

In the palm of her hand was a mini sand gourd, about an inch tall and almost identical to the one Gaara held on his back. It was made from simple clay, but it was the paintwork on it that drew Gaara's attention. The gourd looked so real. Nao had painted on so many intricate details. It even had a cork and everything.

"You like?" Nao asked positively.

Gaara nodded slowly. Nao handed it to him and it looked like a toy in his hand.

"…Thank you," he mumbled quietly, unsure of what else to say.

Already walking back to the easel, Nao laughed. "No problem. Consider it repayment for dinner last night. Now you should probably get back to your meeting, right?"

All Gaara could do was simply nod again. By the time he had left the shop and shut the door, Nao had already returned to her painting, nonchalant.

To her, giving Gaara the gourd hadn't been a big deal. They were friends and friends gave each other gifts.

But no one had ever given Gaara something so small and trivial, yet so sentimental. He felt a kind of lightheartedness, and suddenly he had an urge to just skip the rest of the meeting and go back to the shop. Unfortunately, he didn't have that option, but as the meeting drew on, his mind was not on the peace treaty between the Cloud and the Mist or the new safety measures their ANBU would be taking. On that small, clay charm in the palm of his hand did his mind linger, and there it stayed throughout the whole two hours.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Actually, his mind dwelled on the miniature sand gourd even past the end of the meeting. After he had returned home and taken a shower, he was sitting on his bed, fingering the clay figurine. It was literally just like his own gourd. How…cute.

As he held it between his forefinger and thumb, he saw that the cork was removable. Cautiously, because the clay seemed so fragile, Gaara removed the minute cork and saw that inside, there was a small piece of rolled up parchment paper. Shaking the gourd, he caught the note and unraveled it.

On it was a simple kanji symbol. It matched the one on his forehead. Ai. Love.

Frowning, Gaara rolled it back up and carefully slipped it back into the gourd. Love? What did she mean by putting that in there? Gaara placed the gift on his bedside table and leaned back against the headrest of his bed, deep in thought.

That woman confused him to such a great extent. He didn't know how to react to her, what to feel around her. He was caught between liking her and throwing her out of his village. Only around her did he feel so raw and awkward. He never felt that way around a girl.

An image of Nao appeared in his head: her smile, her hair, her eyes. As if on cue, his heart seemed to quicken. What was this woman doing to him? He imagined her laughing, hearing it in his head, and he closed his eyes, trying to hold on to the image for as long as possible. Quietly, he whispered, "Love in a bottle?" and as the night drew on, he wondered how much truth that statement really held for him.

* * *

As Gaara and the rest of Suna shifted into nighttime mode, a certain brown haired woman was lightly jogging through the streets. Her footsteps were the only sound and the full moon shed eerie shadows upon the sand. As Nao neared the training grounds near the Ninja Academy, she subtly glanced around her, checking for anyone who might still be awake.

After a few seconds of looking around, Nao nodded to herself and pulled out a kunai pouch from beneath her pants leg. She opened the pouch and her kunai gleamed at her, like old friends saying hello. The wind seemed to whistle off of them, and she could practically hear their sharp points ringing in her ears.

With caution, she pulled one out from its spot in the pouch and spun it in her hand. How easy, how fluidly it revolved in her hand. Well balanced, healthy steel, and perfect point precision. Just her type of kunai. Lightly, she tossed it in the air, and when it fell back down, she caught it and agilely threw it at one of the set-up target posts around her.

Bulls-eye.

It felt so good to…to _feel_ again. Throwing that kunai after not having trained for a week or so had felt like the greatest adrenaline rush. It always did. As she threw more and more, and then walked to collect them to start all over again, she questioned herself. Why hadn't she trained in the past week?

She knew the answer. No more extreme nightmares. And why weren't there any more nightmares?

Now that, she didn't know the answer to. Actually, she didn't want to think about the answer to that question, so she just kept on throwing kunai, over and over again. Of course, she was careful. If she got out of hand, then that would be extremely terrible. As long as she didn't lose it, she'd be fine.

All throughout her kunai throwing, Nao had a feeling she was being followed. Actually, she knew that there was a person, about 20 feet off to her left, hiding on a building roof. Her over-looker had been following her ever since she had started running. Because her chakra signature had been so familiar, Nao hadn't stopped to point her out, but now, after about an hour of being watched, Nao knew it was time to reveal her. Carefully wrapping up her kunai and placing it back on her leg, she put her hands on her hip and just stood there.

"So, Temari, what're you doing on a night out like this?"

She heard a small, almost inaudible, gasp, and then after a few seconds, the sound of feet landing on sand. Turning, Nao smiled a sad but understanding smile at her guilty looking friend.

"How long have you known I was watching?" Temari asked quietly.

Nao shrugged. "I dunno. The whole time?"

"How did you…"

"I can hear the wind whistling off of your fan," Nao said, with a satirical smile on her face.

Mentally slapping herself, Temari opened her mouth to speak then blinked in confusion. "If you knew I was there, why did you continue to train?"

There was nothing but quiet for a couple of minutes. "Well," Nao said, throwing her hands up in defeat, "I've done some thinking. And I think it's about time I put some trust in you."

"Me? But—"

"Yeah, I know. You report things to Gaara, right?" Nao asked, trying to lighten things up with a smile.

Temari just remained silent, stunned and extremely guilty. All she could do was nod.

Nao gently smiled and waved her hand. "No big deal. It's expected. You're the sister of the Kazekage. That's why I haven't exactly been…telling you the truth."

Temari furrowed her brow. Her brain couldn't comprehend what was happening so early in the morning. "Um, the truth about what, Nao?"

"Everything. Myself. Why I'm even here. Stuff like that." Silence greeted her. Nao put her hands in her pockets and shifted the weight from her right foot to her left. Sighing, she knew this moment would've crept up on her and bit her in the butt eventually. She just didn't know it would be so hard to follow through with. Her wary eyes scanned over Temari's face. What a sea of emotions she must be feeling, confusion being the dominant one, of course.

"Nao…I am honestly unsure whether or not I want to hear what comes next," Temari said cautiously, with a watchful expression on her face.

Nao managed to let out a small chuckle. "You already made the decision to listen the instant you started following me, Temari."

Looking at Nao, Temari knew that was the truth. Shaking her head and smiling, she mumbled to Nao, "I should have just stayed in bed. Curse my curiosity."

Laughing quietly, Nao walked to gather her kunai, and then sat against the wall of the Ninja Academy and patted the seat beside her. Temari reluctantly sat beside her and as she stared at her newfound 'friend', bracing herself.

Nao let out a long breath. Where to begin? She leaned her head back against the cool stone wall and glanced up at the moon. It seemed to smile down at her, encouraging her. Yeah, this was definitely the time to spill everything. Nao closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and delved into her story, praying that it wouldn't rip her treasured companionship apart.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVV

"So, now, I'm in Suna. Hiding away, like some cowardly animal," Nao concluded as she watched the stars, disgusted at herself. She turned to face Temari with dull eyes and saw that her friend had a semi-shocked, semi-awestruck look frozen upon her face.

"T-Temari? You…you with me?" Nao asked with uncertainty.

A numb nod was her reply. Then, Temari slowly mumbled, "That's…a lot to digest."

Nao managed to let out a humorless laugh. "Trust me, I know." She ran a hand through her hair. For some reason, she felt drained after telling Temari her story, so she took to staring up at the sky again. This time, the moon seemed duller, as if it, too, had lost its energy after the retelling of her tale.

They were both quiet for a while. Nao guessed that Temari was trying to process everything she had just told her and assumed that at any moment, questions would start pouring out. Still, Nao wished she would say something soon_._ The momentary silence was killing her. Finally, Temari spoke up.

"Well, I've never had a princess for a friend before."

Surprised by her sarcastic comment, Nao turned to see a wry smile on her friend's face. A little unsure of what to say, Nao just put her hand over Temari's, a gesture of friendship. Temari managed to convey her understanding with her gaze, and she simply patted Nao's hands with her own.

Quietly, breaking their agreeable moment of peace, Temari quietly said, "How do you know I won't tell Gaara everything you've just told me?"

"Because," Nao said with finality, "I know that when the time comes, you'll know what or what not to tell Gaara."

With unsure eyes, Temari just stared at her. Sighing, she said, "Nao, this is heavy stuff."

"I know, I know." She paused, pursing her lips. "I was planning on leaving Suna soon, actually. I'm endangering everyone."

Urgently, Temari shook her head and tugged on Nao's hand. "No," she said quickly. "Nao, if you go out there, you'll seriously get killed. Stay here. It's safe."

"For me. Not for you, Temari. Not for Suna," Nao quietly whispered.

"You're staying, Nao," Temari assured gently.

Nao didn't respond to Temari's warm comment. Instead, she just let it linger in the space between them, let the effects slowly sink into her brain. It was nice knowing she could stay with at least one person's permission. It was nice to let all off her worries spill out, as if bursting from a bottle. But still. She felt that it was wrong to put the citizens of Suna in danger.

She shifted, uncrossing her legs and pulling them to her chest. This had always been a comfortable, familiar position for her. On cold nights, as a little girl she would rock herself to sleep, curling up into that ball where it was as if no one could hurt her. Now, she didn't know what she was curling up for, who she was trying to hide from. Maybe herself. Maybe her shame. But all she knew was that Temari's hand was on her shoulder the whole time.

* * *

A/N: So that was an awkward chapter. Oh well. PAHA. Hm. I hope you liked this. I didn't really have time to edit a bunch, so sorry for any mistakes. I also apologize about not revealing anything about Nao yet. Fufu, you'll just…have to wait. (: REVIEW. Please. If you appreciate my story, please review. Feedback is taken into great consideration. Thank you berry much!


	12. Her Lies

A/N: So, dear ones, here is chapter 12. PAHHA. It's got a lot of like. 3 Still…Er, I didn't really like writing this chapter, but after I wrote it, I kind of liked reading it. ^__^ So hopefully you will too. I'm sorry this is late. Life is busy. ): Review please! And I noticed I haven't been putting many disclaimers. So I don't own Naruto. But hey, a girl can dream.

Control

_**Chapter 12:**_

_**Her Lies  
**_

Soft, but steady music played in the background of the shop. Once again, Nao decided to spend her free time trying to finish up the Kage painting for Gaara. She had to admit that the extra day definitely helped, but without putting in the extra hours, Nao highly doubted she would get it ready in time. Lightly dabbing her paintbrush to the beat of the music, Nao was speckling on some green when she heard the door open.

Like a heat wave coming through, Nao felt Gaara's chakra. It was such a familiar feeling to her, so instantly recognizable that it didn't even _feel _like a feeling anymore. Now it was more of a sense, like how she could smell baking cookies from a mile away or how she could taste the sugar in a piece of candy.

"Hey Gaara. I was wondering when you'd show up," she said, not looking up from her painting.

"Hey," he replied in his quiet voice. "How's it coming along?" He walked around the room nonchalantly, wandering.

"Wonderful. Almost done. Sort of."

"Good." She heard his voice move out of the room and into her office. Curious, she looked away from the canvas and leaned sideways on the stool, trying to see where he went.

"Gaara? What are you doing?" she asked. She saw him walk back into the room, and just seeing his familiar face made her smile.

He shrugged casually and sat beside her. "Nothing, just walking around."

Raising an eyebrow, Nao said, "Okay…Anyway, now that you're here, could you help me wash the brushes? I'm on a roll, here."

A faint half-smile formed on Gaara's lips as he watched Nao turn back to the canvas, leaning forward in concentration. The instant he had walked into the store, it was like taking a breath of fresh air. After much contemplation and little sleep during the previous night, he had finally decided to abandon any doubt. He definitely felt something for Nao. Whether it was just plain infatuation or something much more, he didn't care. All he knew was that if he kept on trying to ignore whatever it was he felt, he'd kill himself from frustration before he figured out what exactly it was. Temari always told him acceptance was the first step.

Grabbing the brushes, he walked to the back of the room and gently rinsed the paint from their bristles. After he was done, he placed them on a cloth by her easel and just sat in contentment, watching her.

He'd never really taken the time to fully examine her, not in a perverted manner, but just out of apparent interest. She had gained healthy weight in the time she had spent in Suna, and her skin, once a light tan, had grown darker in the sun. His cyan eyes danced across the contours of her face, the bridge of her nose, the curve of her lips. Thank Kami she was concentrating so intently on the painting, because Gaara was pretty sure that the intensity of his stare would burn holes in her eyes.

Reluctantly, he pulled his gaze away from her face and onto her figure. How had he never noticed the fluidity of her body, her lean curves? She had a pretty, simple face, and her body was nice, but he'd seen better. Yet, there was something about her that was beautiful. Her individual features were not especially fantastic, but each part of her seemed to fit together, like a mosaic of different aspects coming together to form…Nao.

He saw her irises graze over to his from the corner of her eye, and hesitantly, he turned his eyes away so as not to make her thinking he was staring…which he was, but still. Seeing Nao's sketches on a nearby table, Gaara absentmindedly reached out for them and flipped through the pages. They were stunning, and they held his attention for a while as Nao continued her work.

He was so caught up in the pictures that he failed to notice Nao getting up from her stool and walking to a cabinet. When he heard her frustrated comments, Gaara looked up from the sheets of paper to see Nao stretching on tiptoe, reaching for something on one of the shop's highest shelves.

Gaara resisted the temptation to smirk. She looked like a child, reaching for a restricted cookie jar. "Need help, shortie?" he said smugly.

Huffing, Nao stopped tip toeing and turned to make a face at Gaara. "Oh shut it. It's not my fault Dani placed these cabinets so high up. Now stop mocking and come help me, please." She leaned her back against the countertop, trying to look impatient while attempting to suppress a smile.

Rolling his eyes, Gaara placed the stack of papers back down on the table, rose from his seat, and walked to stand right in front of her. He looked down at her and asked, "Which one is it?"

Nao stepped back, a little shocked, and felt her back press against the edge of the countertop; she didn't expect him to come so close. Stiffly, she shrank and tried to keep as far away from him as the cabinets would let her. "Um, t-the blue cup." _Did I just stutter? _Nao was so close to Gaara that she could literally feel his heartbeat pulsating in her ears. It was steady…so why wasn't hers? Obviously being so close to each other wasn't such a big deal for him. She definitely needed to calm down.

"Blue one," Gaara mumbled. "Very specific." The shelf was full of blue mugs, randomly dispersed throughout the cabinet.

Nao cleared her throat and said, "The one with waves on it."

"Ah." Gaara leaned forward to reach the cup, which was more towards the back of the cupboard. As he did, Nao tried as hard as she could to compress herself, because his chest was so close that she was practically leaning her face against him. Despite the distance she tried to put between them, though, she couldn't help but inadvertently notice how…attractive he smelled. It was an earthy scent, like the aroma of a forest, or in his case, a desert…She was tempted to just inhale, it was that intoxicating. And his chest was so wide…Nao started to straighten up, as if to step into him, but realizing that it was _Gaara_ standing in front of her, she quickly leaned back against the granite counter, waiting for him to pull back. Damn hormones.

"Is it this one?" he asked, tilting the cup in his hand towards her to show its contents.

Nao nodded and looked away, but as she did, she saw Gaara staring at her. There was something weird about his gaze. She turned to look him in the eye. Flickers of some unreadable emotion churned within, and she felt compelled to just stare at his cyan irises, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

Then Gaara blinked.

"Hah…I win the staring contest," Nao said quietly, joking while praying that he didn't notice how awkward she was acting. _Why is he still standing in front of me?_ She felt the urge to step out and away from him, but her legs weren't listening. It was like her brain and body were in two separate dimensions. All she could do was stand there.

Gaara's lips tugged up at one corner slightly. "Because I let you," he said sarcastically, watching as Nao leaned back against the countertop a little bit more. He had only just realized how near they were to each other. Honestly just reaching for the glass so as means to assist Nao, he hadn't meant to step so close to her or make her uncomfortable. It was just instinctive for his body to get close to her. Damn testosterone.

He watched as a smile formed on her lips after Gaara had retorted with his comment, and he realized just then how easy it would be to kiss her. To just lean in, and watch what happened. With that thought in the back of his head, he felt himself inching his face closer to hers. Of course, he was cautious; he only moved forward a tad bit to gaze at her reaction. When he saw her eyelids started drooping shut and her face tilting upward, he assumed it was some form of subconscious permission, so he continued to slowly move forward.

She was seriously less than an inch away from him, so close, he could practically already feel the softness of his lips. Though his head was screaming to hurry up and kiss her, something didn't want to rush it, to break the enchanted trance they seemed to be in. This woman made him do such strange things.

Then, when their lips almost met, suddenly, the bell above the main door rang, and a loud, obnoxious voice yelled out, "Nao! I brought some lunch!"

Quickly, Gaara backed off and turned away. He cleared his throat, acting as if nothing had been out of the ordinary, and said, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Nao."

With that, he hurriedly strode out of the room, passing Temari along the way, and left the shop. Nao, on the other hand, was frozen to the spot.

_W-what?_ She thought to herself, bewildered. Was she seriously about to kiss Gaara?_ No. Impossible._

Shaking her head, as if trying to shake the image of his lips upon hers, Nao walked out of the room and into her office, yelling to Temari that she'd be out in a second. Looking around for some papers on her desk, she spotted something a little out of the ordinary.

It was a red rose, with a long, slender stem. Beneath it, on a sheet of paper in very neat print, it said:

_To make up for the one petal you seemed to have given away._

Blinking, Nao felt a small smile blossom on her face. "That guy is really cliché," she mumbled to herself. Carefully replacing the rose back on the table, she grabbed the papers and tried to act as normal as possible in front of Temari.

* * *

That night, Gaara was sitting on the roof of the Kage tower. It'd been a while since he'd sojourned to his favorite thinking place. Taking in the full view of Suna, he felt pride, for this was his village. Every now and then, that selfish thought would linger into his head. His village. His people. His duty.

If only everything he wanted could be his. Flexing his hand, he rolled the small sand gourd between his fingers. Of course he was thinking about Nao. He wanted to see her. Knowing full well that he was acting like some small genin with an amateur academy-school crush, Gaara simply leaned back and stared up at the stars.

That's when he heard a sort of tapping. Or lobbing. A steady rhythm of…feet?

Sitting up, curious, Gaara wondered who would be running at three in the morning. That's when he saw that familiar frame, the soft shoulders, and the pony that that he'd been staring at for a good six days.

The object of his pondering was right in front of him…jogging at 3 AM. Intrigued and confused, Gaara quietly followed after her, jumping from building to building as stealthily as a cat. It was after about an hour did Nao stop, and when she did, Gaara recognized the wooden posts of the training grounds.

_What.._Gaara quietly mumbled. He was halfway through the decision of jumping off the roof and talking to her, when suddenly, she pulled out a kunai and without hesitation flung it at the post. The blade landed right on target.

"_I can't throw kunai…" _Her words suddenly flashed back to him from the night of their dinner. Yet, hadn't he just seen her throw one with deadly accuracy? Not wanting to believe his eyes, Gaara sat there, watching her for about half an hour. All the while, he heard her mumbling to herself, whispering angrily, yet as time passed, he couldn't bring himself to come out from hiding. His head hurt; he didn't know what to think. How could she have lied to him? And why…why did it hurt so much? What else was she hiding? Afraid to see what other things she could do, Gaara was about to leap off the roof and confront her when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't do anything you'll regret later Gaara."

Bewildered that she was there, the redhead turned to face his sister. "Temari, she lied to us. She's a kunoichi! She's a threat. I…I'm not going to regret anything." Even as he spoke the words, Gaara knew they were untrue.

"Don't you think that if she was a threat, she would have done something the first month or so that she was here?" Temari whispered angrily, trying to reason with him. When he didn't reply, she kept speaking.

"Gaara, don't jump to conclusions. I've been watching her this whole week, and she's done nothing wrong. She could be a good guy!"

"Or," Gaara seethed, "she could be the one who killed those men."

Temari froze. She didn't want to admit that Nao _was_ the one who had killed them. Before she could speak, Gaara started again.

"She lied to use about her abilities. Who's to say that she isn't lying to us about anything else?"

There was silence. Even on a roll, Temari had no argument. All they could do was stare, fuming, at each other while the thuds of Nao's kunai reverberated in the background.

Then, Temari quietly mumbled. "Gaara."

"What."

"You know you don't want to jump down there and attack her."

Looking away, Gaara clenched his jaw. "She's a threat to this village. My duty as Kazekage entails me to remove any threats."

"Well, your duty as her friend entails you to keep quiet and just wait. Gaara, she's grown on you, on all of us. You couldn't banish her from Suna even if you wanted to."

Cold eyes looked up at her.

"Look. Just give her time. If we see anything dangerous, she's out. But right now, she's not doing any harm." Temari smiled and patted Gaara on the shoulder. Then she left, letting her words sink in and escaping before he could retaliate with any other statement.

As he heard Temari quietly leap off the roof, he turned back to watch Nao continue throwing her kunai. It was an odd process. The girl he once thought was weak and innocent was tossing kunai with lethal precision. Wasn't it just today that they had almost kissed? He thought he knew everything about her, yet he didn't. A hurricane of some strange emotion was stirring inside of him as he gazed at her, her speed increasing with every blade tossed. He observed, guarded and cautious, and then he saw something strange as she threw one final kunai that splintered right through the wooden training post. He saw her put her head in her hands and sink to the floor.

His first instinct was to rush over and comfort her, but he couldn't do anything. He was stuck there, watching, unsure of whether or not to hate the girl in front of him, or trust in her even more. Confused and frustrated, Gaara simply stood up and disappeared into the night. Little did he know that as Nao was crying, she was thinking about only him.


	13. Escorts and Uncertainty

A/N: I am SO SORRY. Alright, quick explanation, although there really is no good excuse. Anyway. So my computer crashed. Cool huh. So, yeah. Everything got. Um. I don't know. ERASED. Ugh. No comment. Too long to explain. But i lost my story line, completely, and this chapter was done on…what was left in my head. So, if the story seems weird and like…awkward especially within the storyline, it's because I had a friend of mine write the next couple chapters. But she's brilliant. Actually, Nao is her character.

Anyway. This is short. I apologize.

Control

_**Chapter 13:**_

_**Escorts and Uncertainty**_

The next morning, Gaara walked into the shop, wary and a little moody. As usual, he had gotten no sleep, but he was used to that. What was really bothering him was the brown-haired artist—or whatever she was—leaning with careful concentration toward the giant canvas. He had thought about her all night, racing between kicking her out of Suna and letting her stay. He had weighed all the pros and cons, but all the warning flares seemed to shut off when she was right in front of him.

As if on cue, Nao turned to greet him with a grin. "Hi."

Attempting to seem normal, Gaara replied with a small 'hm.'

Concerned, Nao raised an eyebrow. "Whoa, you okay, princess?"

Cursing, he quickly mumbled, "Sorry. I didn't get much sleep."

"Well," Nao said with a satirical smile, "judging from those dark circles, I would assume not."

Gaara rolled his eyes and watched her get back to work. He hadn't been lying. He couldn't even remember how many times he questioned himself last night: "Should I let her stay?" His brain was telling him that she had to go. But why didn't he want to follow through?

His eyes followed her hand as she placed gentle strokes on the almost-finished painting. It was well done. Not as top notch as Dani would have done, but nonetheless, it was more than he had expected. The faces of the past Hokages stared back at him from the canvas. She had followed through very nicely.

Yet Gaara didn't appreciate the art as much as he did the artist. She was so pretty. How could she deceive him so easily? There were so many questions Gaara wanted to ask, so many accusations he wanted to blurt out. But the silence was so comfortable; being in her presence and just watching over her was so simple and habitual, just like breathing.

He watched her in a comfortable silence for about an hour before she set her brush down and heaved a sigh of relief. Turning to Gaara, she smiled and said, "Done."

With a small smile, Gaara took her hand and pulled her away from the canvas, stepping back so they were side by side, staring at the grandeur of the whole canvas.

"It's perfect," he quietly mumbled.

"Thanks," Nao replied softly beside him. Then she said, "Hey, Gaara, you can let go of my hand now."

A little startled, Gaara quickly untangled his hand from hers, and stepped a bit farther away from her.

Sensing an oncoming awkward moment, Nao quickly said, "I should take it to the main room to dry," and without waiting for his response, she carefully lifted the canvas and walked out of the room.

She was gone for only a moment, then she was back in the room, wiping her hands on her apron. "It'll be ready by tomorrow morning. You can pick it up right before you leave for Konoha. Sound good?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Gaara replied. He opened his mouth to say something more, feeling like he should at least confront her about what he had seen the night before.

Nao looked at him curiously. "What?"

Changing his mind, Gaara simply said, "I…Thank you for your work, Nao."

With a delicate smile, Nao winked. She took off her apron as she said comically, "It was my pleasure, Gaara. I should start my own shop, huh?"

"Don't get too full of yourself," Gaara replied satirically. Nao whacked him with her apron. Just like that, the previous tension Gaara felt disappeared. They were quiet for a bit, with Gaara wanting to say…something. But he couldn't. Not until he found out more about her.

"I should go," Gaara said quietly.

Nao nodded, then turned away to another canvas. "Later, then."

With nothing, yet so much to he wanted to tell her, Gaara turned and walked out the door, wishing he had said something more.

* * *

"Hey, Gaara, you needed me for something?" Temari asked as she walked into the room and stood by the door. Leaning against the doorframe, she patiently waited for Gaara to speak to her.

"Yeah, I need you to call Matsuri in for me. I can't seem to find her," Gaara said, skimming through a mission report.

Temari replied casually, "Oh, she's not here."

"…where is she?" Gaara said sternly.

"On a mission."

Her blunt reply made Gaara glare at her. "I thought I told you to keep Matsuri off of missions. I was planning on taking her to Konoha."

With a piqued interest, Temari walked to his desk and leaned against it, looking at him. "Why would you need to bring her to Konoha? You're only going to a banquet."

Gaara massaged his forehead and sighed, frustrated. "I need to bring an escort and I'd prefer a kunoichi."

Temari tried to contain herself. What a perfect opportunity. "Right. Well…I'm sorry to tell you this, Gaara, but most of our kunoichi are off on missions at the moment." She tried her best to make the phrase sound as believable as possible, praying that Gaara wouldn't notice the slight change of tone in her voice.

He looked up at her, and she could tell he was starting to get agitated. "Then you come with me."

"Wow, really, Gaara? Taking your sister as your date to the Kage banquet. Man, teach me how to be cool like you," she replied, her voice dripping in sarcasm.

"This isn't a date. Find me an agent," Gaara practically growled.

"Alright, how bout this," Temari said soothingly. She walked over to the window and said nonchalantly. "Just take Nao."

Gaara looked at her in dull disbelief, as if he couldn't believe she had even suggested. "Have you forgotten that we don't fully know her background?"

Temari sighed, exasperated. "Oh please, Gaara. Don't give me that crap. Whether you want to believe it or not, you trust her just by letting her stay in the village."

He was quiet. Then, "She's not a ranking kunoichi."

"So?"

"How do I know she won't attack the first chance she gets?"

"Gaara!" Temari said, turning to him and using vivid hand gestures. "You just spent a whole week with her. That's a weeks worth of chances to kill you. Don't you think she would have done it already? Gaara, just take her!"

"No," he said firmly.

"Oh my freaking gosh, you are such a hard-ass. If you don't want to take her, fine. You're going alone."

Temari turned and stormed toward the door. As she was about to slam it behind her, Gaara calls out angrily, "Fine. Tell her to meet me by the gate tomorrow morning with the painting."

XXXXXXXX

"A mission?" Nao asked with hesitation. It was after work, and they were sitting on the floor of Nao's apartment, drinking tea and watching TV.

"It's not a mission, exactly. Consider it more…an escort. We...Gaara, thought that it would be more appropriate that the artist be the one to deliver and present the painting," Temari said, almost too cheerily.

Nao sipped her cup with a look of skepticism on her face. "What if I get attacked again…I might not just stop at killing the enemy…"

Temari patted her leg reassuringly. "Trust me, it won't be dangerous. And besides, Konoha's only a quick two days away. No big deal."

"I dunno, Temari."

"Come on! It'll be fun!"

"I don't know," Nao repeated.

"Go," replied the blonde with frustration. "You're going, okay? You're not gonna get another chance like this to prove your trust worthiness to Gaara."

Nao sighed. She was quiet for a few seconds, then she replied, "Fine."

Clapping her hands excitedly, Temari smiled. "Cool. You're going to need help packing, and I'm your girl."

"Why would I need help packing?" Nao inquired.

"Because it's a ball? Hello? We need to get you a dress. Let's go shopping!" Temari exclaimed with too much excitement for Nao's taste.

Sighing, Nao suddenly had a very bad feeling about agreeing to go with Gaara.


	14. Let Me Hold You

A/N: again i apologize for my...terribly late uploads.

Control

_**Chapter 14:**_

_**Let Me Hold You**_

The steady rhythm of the crunch of gravel was the only thing keeping Nao from turning around and racing back to Suna. She counted each step she took; so far, 3289. Three thousand, two hundred, eighty-nine steps away from safety, away from Temari, away from her swords.

Nao almost groaned out loud. Leaving her swords behind was probably the dumbest decision she had ever made. Though Temari had promised to keep them safe, Nao felt like she was the one needing the safety the most.

Her brown irises slowly wandered off of the road beneath her feet and onto the man next to her. Gaara hadn't said a word except for, "Morning" when she had first met him at the gate. She had initially wondered if something was wrong, but as her regret for agreeing to even leave the village encompassed her, she decided that she could care less. It was not her problem if Gaara was bipolar.

But still. In fear that her consciousness would convince her to abandon this recklessness, Nao attempted to spark up some conversation.

"So, how long will it take us to get to Konoha?" she asked, trying to remain casual.

Out of the corner of her eye, Nao saw Gaara twitch, as if he hadn't been expecting her to speak.

"A couple of days." His response was bland, flat. He sounded like he did when they had first met. Nao was so confused, but then again, when was she not.

So she tried again. "Define 'couple'."

Gaara sighed. "Like…two days."

Ah, a breakthrough. "…Like, really? Like, are you sure?"

Turning to look at her, Gaara's frustrated gaze met Nao's grin. There it was, her satiric, half-smile, tearing away at Gaara's attempt at resistance. He was starting to question himself around her more and more every second.

"Okay, two days. Don't be obnoxious." he growled.

Nao chuckled. "Alright, alright. Calm down, I was just trying to start a conversation, Mr. Chatterbox."

Once again, they fell silent, but this time, it was not Nao who was irked by the stillness, but Gaara. Even though Nao had laughed, a week with her had been enough to let him know that there was so much more behind it. He could feel it, her curiosity and confusion, and he knew he was being unfair, unreasonable. But what else could he do. Instinctively, he knew he shouldn't trust her wholeheartedly. But she had already found a way to hold half of his heart without even trying.

Quietly, Gaara mumbled, "Have you ever been to Konoha?"

He saw Nao turn to him, and he saw that genuine smile he had inadvertently been searching for.

"Actually, I have," Nao replied, actually telling the truth for once. "My dad brought me when I was six."

"Hn," Gaara quietly replied. Then, "You talk a lot about your father. Were you close to him?"

Nao looked straight ahead, trying to avoid any contact for fear that she would show signs that would betray her words. "You could…say so. How about you?"

The corner of his mouth tugged up slightly as Gaara said, "It was a love hate relationship."

"You seem to have a lot of these love hate relationships, Kazekage-sama, especially with all those girls around you."

Hearing her voice dripping in sarcasm and faux approbation, Gaara shook his head and let out a small 'ha' under his breath. Then, he made a face, somewhat resembling disgust and guilt combined.

"Sorry…about that." And he sincerely was. He knew the animosity of Suna kunoichi.

A chuckle, warm and sweet, flew from Nao's mouth as she said, "Well, women are protective by nature, are they not? But I can't possibly see why they'd waste all their time chasing after _you._"

Gaara glared at Nao as she stared straight ahead, a smile threatening to break those…pink and full lips. She was setting him up, he knew it, and yet he couldn't help but take the bait.

"Are you saying," he said, dangerously quiet, "that I'm not worth chasing?"

Still grinning, Nao shrugged. "Maybe I'm just saying that people need to learn to give up sometimes."

Only when the words fell from her mouth did Nao comprehend what she just said, comprehend how oddly relative her advice was to her own situation. Tanzou suddenly surged in her mind, and Nao couldn't help but feel an air of solemnity cloud her heart again. After all this time, he still had this effect on her.

As Gaara glanced over at Nao, she suddenly seemed solemn, too quiet just out of the blue. Wanting to hear her laugh again, he threw out, "I could say the same about you."

Apparently he had pulled her out of some of her thoughts, for she blinked, mumbling airily, "Hm?"

"Ever since you got here, my shinobi seem to be working out a bit more. Bulking up."

Nao blinked at Gaara, and then, like a flower blossoming, a smile graced her lips and laughter pealed forth.

"Well, Gaara, I do like my men buff."

* * *

As they continued their light teases and taunts, the path got harder and harder to see. The sun had fallen past the horizon, and they could barely make out the trees in the distance.

"Let's set up camp," Gaara said. Nao nodded in agreement, and they walked for a while until they reach a clearing in some nearby woods.

Gaara quickly and methodically set up the tents while Nao was off in the woods gathering firewood. By the time she got back, two small tents were set up adjacent to each other in front of a small circle of stones with some twigs hanging above it, like a spit.

"Looks good," Nao affirmed as she placed twigs and other brambles with the small circle. She arranged them and stepped back as Gaara performed a small jutsu. Nao watched as flames grew and engulfed the logs, then she took a seat on a log and pulled out some food from her backpack.

"Alright…there's ramen…I could make us some eggs. Uh, sandwiches, coffee, beans. Tea. Take your pick, sir," she said, displaying the contents of her backpack on her lap.

Gaara rolled his eyes and plucked a sandwich from her. He unwrapped it and took a bite, then watched as Nao poured some water into a pot, then placed it over the fire. The flames casted shadows that danced across her face, illuminating the features that so intently captured Gaara's attention before. He wanted to reach out and trace the patterns that the fire drew upon her cheek, her lips, her neck.

But he was being stupid. Catching himself staring, Gaara cleared his throat and took another bite of his sandwich. Nao sat back down, and as she, too, unwrapped some food, they made simple, light conversation.

It was completely dark by the time they had finished their dinner. Embers glowed where the fire once stood, and Nao could feel her eyelids drooping as the seconds passed.

Sensing her sleep, Gaara packed up the silverware and cups, saying, "You should sleep. I'll clean up."

"Are you su—" but she was cut off by a yawn. After, she smiled, and mumbled sleepily. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Alright. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Gaara." And with that, she walked to her tent and let the flaps fall shut.

With her voice lingering in his ears, Gaara sighed and poured water on what remained of the fire. Steam rose when the water met the embers, and Gaara quietly walked back to his tent in the dark.

It was about two hours after they had gone to bed that Gaara heard a zipping sound pierce the night's silence. Curious, he was still, not wanting to mask any other sounds he might hear. There were some hurried footsteps, first near his tent, but then, gradually getting fainter and fainter. Gaara immediately recognized the footsteps as Nao's.

_What is she doing awake?_ Gaara sat up and quickly threw on a shirt as he too walked outside. The cool air splashed over him, refreshing him a little, not that he was sleepy or anything. No, thoughts of being just a few feet from Nao's sleeping body had definitely not let him doze off.

He walked in the direction that he had heard the footsteps, only to see Nao briskly walking, clumsily putting her hands on the surrounding trees, as if they were her support. She continued on for a few minutes, walking, almost running, and Gaara struggled to keep up with her in the dark. Thoughts of uncertainty, questions, and accusations flooded his mind, but he knew better than to assume before knowing anything. Out of curiosity, Gaara kept quiet and decided to follow her so much as whispering a word.

After a few more minutes, she suddenly disappeared. The darkness of the forest engulfed her, and Gaara cursed under his breath for allowing her to elude him.

He walked a little faster, trying to sense her, but to no avail. Stopping to turn and glance around, Gaara considered calling her name out loud. Then, right as he took a step, he felt something jump down from the branches of the tree beside him.

Alert and ready, Gaara prepared himself for an attack, only to see that the attacker in front of him was Nao. She was crouched low, like a coiled spring, ready to tackle him if needed. Her position was not unfamiliar to him, but seeing her bent over, like some sort of predator…was different, alien and strange to him despite the fact that he had watched her do things he had not seen other kunoichi do that one night.

He relaxed and let go of the chakra he had already subconsciously stored up for a jutsu. Still and quiet, he watched as Nao straightened slowly.

"…Gaara?" Her voice alarmed him. It was quiet, but it was the trembling that he noticed the most. She sounded scared. Like a child afraid of the dark.

"Nao," he whispered gently. "What are you doing?"

"I-I was taking a walk." This time, there was relief in the words she spoke. He heard her step forward, and in the light of the moon through the trees, he managed to make her out through the dimness. Something like fear masked her face, and Gaara wondered what in the world she could have been thinking of…running from. He walked up to her until they were only about half a foot away.

"You shouldn't be out here alone," he warned in seriousness.

Nao managed a small smile. "It's fine. I'm used to it."

Unable to help himself, Gaara protectively placed a hand on her cheek. Her skin was so soft, so feminine. To his surprise, she did not shy away, but instead, closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. Gaara felt tension leaving her body as she sighed quietly and relaxed against the firm support of his hand.

"Next time, wake me up and I'll come with you." He moved his hand to her neck and placed his thumb behind her ear, tilting her head up so she could look at him. "Are you okay?"

Half-heartedly smiling, Nao nodded. She blinked slowly, grateful and a little taken aback by Gaara's sudden gentleness. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Alright." In fear that his body might be tempted to explore a little more, Gaara removed his hand from the nape of Nao's neck. But as it fell to his side, Nao stepped forward swiftly and buried her face in his chest. As if she was looking for reassurance, her arms locked around his torso, and she clung tightly to him. He could feel her trembling, shaking for some unknown nightmare.

With a mixture of contentment and worry, Gaara wrapped his arms around her. He squeezed her shoulders, and he leaned his face into her hair, trying to pour comfort out into her. He had never comforted someone like this before. Uneasiness seeped into him at the thought of the fact that no other girl had ever made him feel this…this protectiveness, possessiveness. With anyone else, he had always felt like he had chased after more superficial things, like nonchalant pleasure, but simply feeling Nao cradled in his arms was enough. How did she manage to find such a hold on him in such a short amount of time?

She clung to him for what only seemed like a second when Gaara felt her relax. Her grip loosened, and when Gaara leaned back to look at her, he saw to his amusement that she had fallen asleep…while standing. He didn't even think that was possible. He looked into her face, seeing lines of worry and fear etched into her soft skin. What could have made her run so desperately? It burned Gaara to think that he didn't know anything about the girl in front of him, but it was true. It hurt and angered him to know that she had a complete, secret life he had no clue about. Until she let him in, he could do nothing but simply hold her in his arms, just like this. But it was enough for him…maybe. For now.

Gently, Gaara lifted her into his arms, leaning her against his broad chest. Her scent danced in front of him, something floral and light. Taking in every second, Gaara walked back to the tents slowly and carefully tucked her into her sleeping bag. As he zipped up her tent and walked back to his own, he realized that this was the first time he had ever held her.


End file.
